Missouri ranks poorly in report on women: Can the state help us help ourselves? | Opinion
If you live east of the state line, do you feel less safe these days? In the last few weeks, Missouri has landed on national lists that tout dangerous and risky living conditions.
Kansas City was the eighth most dangerous city in a recent national report, our state was eighth among riskiest states for teen drivers, seventh in drug use, and Missouri was 12th in a ranking of states where women are least protected.
What’s happening?
Hold on a minute. Rankings like these often come across my desk and I don’t always jump. But this time, one piqued my interest.
It’s the report about states where women are said to be “least protected” that I found to be curiously concerning — primarily because the ranking data used was so varied and, sadly, there is no easy fix.
Data was collected on the female population figures along with these crimes and issues to determine “least protected”: domestic violence, rape cases, rates of homicide against women, trafficking incidents, availability of women’s shelters and organizations, uninsured women.
While Missouri ranked at 12th — it just eked out of the Top 10 — and that’s nothing to be proud of. Kansas ranked 20th, well below the worst but still in the top half of women who are least protected.
Domestic and sexual violence
Looking at the categories, violence against women appears to drive this ranking. And many of the other crimes can stem from cases where domestic violence is present.
“Domestic violence is absolutely a problem,” said Matthew Huffman, chief public affairs officer at the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
According to the nationwide ranking, analyzed by Spartacus Law Firm of Las Vegas, just under 42% of Missouri women have suffered some kind of domestic violence. Huffman said he thinks that number is a bit high, but added that the issue is prevalent.
“We are seeing sometimes tens of thousands of adults and children reaching out to domestic violence centers across the state for emergency and support services throughout the year.” Huffman reported 23,700 Missouri adults were provided non-residential services for domestic violence last year (mostly women but also including nongendered individuals).
When I spoke to Corky McCaffrey of Synergy Services in the Northland last year, she said more than 40,000 people used shelters in Missouri alone, according to domesticshelters.org. The Kansas City Police Department website has reported responding to approximately 5,000 domestic violence calls a year. “That’s an average of almost 14 calls a day requesting help,” she said.
While it all seems insurmountable, Huffman has a holistic view.
“I really view domestic and sexual violence more as a public health issue,” he said, adding that when you look at it through the lens of public health, you can see it as preventable.
“It is an issue that for so long we have tried to solve only through arrest and incarceration and punishment. And we know that that doesn’t inherently prevent violence from occurring.”
Huffman noted that in many cities, offenders of domestic violence are arrested but “charges dropped down to something that’s a lower level. They might not end up being sentenced as harshly as we see for other crimes.”
Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson told Star Opinion writers much the same thing in January. Since being elected last November, among the most pressing and important changes she made was the decision to remove domestic violence cases involving serious injuries from Kansas City Municipal Court — the idea being that a domestic abuser that seriously injures their partner should not tried in the same court as a traffic offender.
“Ninety percent of domestic violence cases are handled at the municipal level,” Johnson said. “We’re looking to change that.” And she did, telling the Kansas City Police Department to submit those cases at the felony level.
“Too many domestic violence cases are handled at the municipal level and not at the felony level,” she said. “Those cases should be submitted at the felony level.”
Financial instability
I found the most curious ranking on the list was the percentage of women uninsured: 9%. The report refers specifically to a lack of health insurance, but Wendy Doyle, President and CEO of UnitedWe, sees a number of issues some women face that make the problems bigger.
“The way we describe it is, it’s a compounding effect,” Doyle said.
“So it is, not one thing that’s causing it, but it’s a number of indicators that are leading up to this complex problem being 9% of women in Missouri are uninsured.”
United WE last year researched child care licensing in Missouri, Kansas and nationwide and discovered that the ability for women to work often relies on child care, and that 41% of Missourians are living in a child care desert or without child care access. This can affect their ability to have health insurance.
“When we got out and listened to women around the state of Missouri this was a significant barrier with their protection and with their safety. They need to get to work to be able to support their family and child care was the most significant barrier, especially for single moms,” Doyle said.
Along with health insurance as a barrier is paid family and medical leave. Doyle said that’s another critical issue United WE found when polling women.
“Being able to take time off to not only care for themselves, care for their children but also care for aging family members is significant for women to remain in the workforce,” Doyle said.
The anonymous poll of women found more than 90% of participants think a paid family leave policy is imperative to the retention in the workplace.
“We heard stories from women who were business owners or, for example, hairstylists. And I’ll give an example in Springfield, where she talked about four days after she gave birth, to be able to care, provide for her family, she was back to work.”
Doyle talked about a child care tax credit moving through Missouri’s legislative session that she believes could help women. “It is still in play. Fingers crossed, a couple more weeks of session and we hope that it makes it to the governor’s desk.”
One thing I’ve thought about ever since I read the “least protected” rankings was the name. Calling Missouri a state where women were “least protected” irked me. I think many women, like I do, would prefer to live in a state that gives needed financial and legal protections and services to its residents, women included.
That way, we would be able to protect ourselves, thank you very much.
How to find help
Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
Kansas City 5-county area listings for shelters and assistance
National Women Law’s Center: Missouri
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 5:08 AM.
