Feminist Generation Mourns Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax and Calls for an End to Gendered Partner Violence

Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax was a deeply loved person, a mother of three, and a dentist with her own clinic in Fairfax, Virginia. Dr. Fairfax was an active and energetic runner, reader, traveler, and an award-winning business owner. She combined her passion for DIY projects with her love for her children in building activities for them, like a zipline and an above-ground pool. Dr. Fairfax was in the process of getting a divorce when she was killed by her husband, the former Lt. Governor of Virginia. Feminist Generation is heartbroken by her killing and calls for the immediate end of gendered partner violence and violent acts of misogynoir. We are outraged at the recent string of Black femicides in the United States and refuse to allow the headlines to move on. We will fight until we are all free, and until every woman can be safe in her home, community, and society at large. 

Dr. Fairfax’s murder illustrates how kindness, success, and independence alone cannot protect women from the systemic harms of misogynoir, misogyny, patriarchy and gender violence. Instead of leaning into victim-blaming narratives, inspecting the choices of individual women and urging personal responsibility, this current wave of femicide targeting black women demands social, cultural, and legal changes. 

1 in 3 women face intimate partner violence in the United States. Dr. Fairfax experienced gendered partner violence because of underlying systems, including patriarchy and misogynoir. This intersection of race and gender is especially relevant as 45% of black women experience intimate partner violence, a disproportionately high rate. In fact, over half of all homicides against women are related to intimate partner violence.

The United States as a whole and states like Virginia, where Dr. Fairfax lived, must do more to protect Black women and all women at risk of gendered partner violence. Issues of misogynoir and gendered violence are further complicated by the number of guns in American households. Feminist Generation calls for the end of patriarchy, anti-Blackness, misogynoir, and gun culture and militarism that is stealing the lives of Black women in this country. We refuse to accept the status quo. 

We mourn Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax, and we urge our elected leaders to do more immediately to address misogynoir, domestic abuse, and gendered violence in our communities.

White supremacist Patriarchy must fall. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 and can be reached by calling (800) 799-7233 or by texting 88788.