4 October 2024
ST. PAUL — The 40 people killed in domestic violence situations last year in Minnesota were the most in more than 30 years of record-keeping, Violence Free Minnesota said Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Of the victims, 29 were killed by a current or former intimate partner and 11 were intervenors or bystanders to domestic violence.
“Even one death is too many, and it is all preventable,” Guadalupe Lopez, Violence Free Minnesota’s executive director, said on Tuesday.
She highlighted that 80 adult and minor children lost parents last year as a result of domestic-related homicides.
“What does that do to a community? What does that do for families? What does that do for Minnesota?”
The previous high was 37 domestic-related homicides in 2013. Minnesota averaged 26 victims of intimate partner violence annually in the decade between 2013 and 2022, Violence Free Minnesota data show. The nonprofit has been tracking domestic violence-related homicides since 1989 and released its latest report on Tuesday.
At least 12 people have been killed so far this year due to intimate partner violence in the state, according to Violence Free Minnesota.
Studying risk factors
Violence Free Minnesota studies “five key risk factors for homicide that have been identified as reasonably reliable in national data, especially in combination,” according to the report’s summary. Those factors are the victim’s attempts to leave the abuser, previous threats to kill the victim, the abuser’s access to firearms, the abuser’s history of violence and choking or strangling the victim.
The report says that “while homicide risk factors are often considered in a criminal legal context, we believe that by placing them in a public health framework these factors can illuminate important patterns” and “can and should be identified and addressed through multiple victim/survivor ‘touchpoints’ with systems and services.”
Of the 29 people killed by a current or former partner last year, the report shows:
55% were separated or attempting to leave
At least 24% had been threatened with death
55% were killed with a firearm
Nearly 45% were killed by someone with a documented history of violence against them or a previous partner
At least 31% were killed by strangulation, or by someone who previously choked them or other partners
Last year, a new law went into effect in Minnesota called an “Extreme Risk Protection Order” (called “red flag” laws in other states), which people can request from a court to keep someone from buying or possessing a firearm. Violence Free Minnesota wants to ensure that, when those orders are issued, firearms are being turned over to authorities, said Jess Palyan, the organization’s policy program manager.
In the next legislative session, Violence Free Minnesota will be advocating for funding for crime victim services — for the network of community-based advocacy and shelters.
“We want to get people accessing help months and years before anything escalates to a homicide level … far before their life is threatened,” Palyan said.
In addition to statistics, the report includes information about the victims’ lives.
“We tried to honor them … to bring light (and) love to their family, the ones that are grieving of the loss of the space at the table or at the house or … in family and community,” Lopez said.
Most bystanders killed since ’99
The 2023 report also noted:
The last time there were as many bystanders/intervenors who were killed, 11, was in 1999.
People of color, particularly Black and African-American victims, “were significantly overrepresented” in the number of victims. American Indian women and girls “are far more likely to experience violence, be murdered or go missing, more than any other demographic groups in Minnesota,” said Juliet Rudie, director of Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office.
Six victims were at least 50 years old. In instances of older victims, the same underlying factors in domestic violence homicides of power and control are at work, but they may be downplayed as “caregiver stress,” said Renee Stromme, Minnesota Elder Justice Center communications and training manager.
Five cases were murder-suicides, one involving two victims, and three were murder-attempted suicides.
The report has added a suspicious death category for the first time, “intended to expand public understanding of the impacts of domestic violence in the state and the factors that may contribute to a lack of clarity around some deaths,” the summary said. The suspicious deaths were not included in the count.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Violence Free Minnesota is a statewide coalition of nearly 90 programs working to address relationship abuse, and they will be hosting awareness events throughout the month.
Violence Free Minnesota memorialized 39 victims from last year in February, but they were since notified about another death, so the new report reflects 40 victims.
Domestic violence help
Help is available 24/7 through the Day One hotline by calling 866-223-1111 or texting 612-399-9995.
]]>