NCCD Partners to Prevent Domestic Violence Homicides

January 29, 2014 | Isami Arifuku, Senior Researcher, NCCD

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Approximately 1,500 women are murdered in domestic violence incidents in the United States annually. In addition, researchers estimate that for every victim of domestic violence who is killed, nine (about 13,500) are almost killed by a gunshot or stab wound to the head, neck, or torso; nonfatal strangulation or drowning; or potentially lethal injury from another weapon. In a domestic violence incident, family members or friends may also be killed.

Approximately 1,500 women are murdered in domestic violence incidents in the United States annually. In addition, researchers estimate that for every victim of domestic violence who is killed, nine (about 13,500) are almost killed by a gunshot or stab wound to the head, neck, or torso; nonfatal strangulation or drowning; or potentially lethal injury from another weapon. In a domestic violence incident, family members or friends may also be killed.

In a national study of homicide of women, about half of the 456 women who were killed or almost killed accurately assessed their risk of being murdered by their abusive partner.1 The study’s author, Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell, noted that because the remainder of these women did not accurately judge the danger they were in, the need exists to help battered women better understand their risks. The Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention (DVHP) Demonstration Initiative, funded by the US Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), does that and more. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency serves as a partner in this effort as the local researcher for Contra Costa County, California, one of 12 jurisdictions serving as a site for the initiative.

The intent of the DVHP initiative is to build the capacity of local jurisdictions to improve identification of and services for high-risk victims while better monitoring high-risk offenders to reduce domestic violence-related homicides. Dr. Campbell, who conducted the foundational research on homicides resulting from domestic violence incidents, declared that intimate partner violence is both predictable and preventable. Her research was used to create the Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP), a 12-item survey to identify high-risk victims. The LAP is verbally administered to an individual who reaches out to police or a domestic violence advocate for assistance during or after an altercation. The survey is scored immediately, and if the woman’s responses indicate that she is at high risk for homicide by her partner, the police officer/domestic violence advocate informs the woman of that risk and encourages her to speak with a staff member on a domestic violence hotline. The officer or advocate then initiates the call and asks the woman to talk with a staff member who can help her access legal help, counseling, shelter, or other services. In Maryland, where the program was developed, 60% of the women in this situation choose to talk with the hotline worker.

The second intervention is the Domestic Violence High Risk Team (DVHRT) model, a vehicle for cross-system communication that provides the best possible response to victims at high risk of homicide. A multidisciplinary team consisting of police officers, prosecutors, probation workers, domestic violence advocates, batterer intervention program representatives, and select others meet regularly to monitor, discuss, and contain the behavior of the perpetrator. The program focuses equally on victim safety and offender accountability by providing services and instituting swift sanctions when transgressions occur, e.g., electronic monitoring for violation of a restraining order. During the pilot years between 2005 and 2011, no high-risk offenders were charged with murder, and only 8% of victims had been re-assaulted.2

OVW has challenged 12 jurisdictions, all east of the Mississippi River with the exception of Contra Costa County, California, to demonstrate their credentials, capacity, and commitment to implement either one or both of the interventions identified above. Six of the jurisdictions will be selected to move on to the implementation phase of the DVHP initiative. The goal is to faithfully implement the two models described above and measure their effectiveness in communities of varying composition through a formal evaluation overseen by another federal agency, the National Institute of Justice.

The DVHP implementation is a hopeful and encouraging effort to save the lives of women and prevent the suffering of those who are badly injured. Other heartening information appeared in a statewide survey of 800 California adults sponsored by the Blue Shield of California Foundation:3 Eight out of 10 respondents supported treating domestic violence as a public health issue, and 87% thought victims should seek outside help or support rather than keep it a private matter. Most Californians (81%) also favored the screening of patients by doctors and nurses for signs of abuse, as will be mandated by the Affordable Care Act. While 91% of those surveyed indicated that domestic violence victims may be equally afraid of police involvement and their abusers, domestic violence shelter workers (85%) and doctors (83%) were noted as those most trusted to help victims. The DVHP initiative and the survey results bode well for changing thoughts, behaviors, and practices that result in domestic violence and generating hope to significantly reduce the number of domestic violence homicides.

Isami Arifuku is a Senior Researcher at NCCD.


[1] Campbell, J. C. (2004). Helping women understand their risk in situations of intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(12), 1464–1477.

[2] Chettiar, I., Eisen, L-B, Fortier, N., & Ross, T. (2013). Reforming funding to reduce mass incarceration. Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. 

[3] Blue Shield California Foundation. (2013, October). New survey findings: Californians see a role for doctors, nurses in preventing domestic violence. Retrieved from http://www.blueshieldcafoundation.org/news/archives/20131029/new-survey-findings-californians-see-role-for-doctors-nurses-preventing-domes