New Study on Intimate Partner Violence Among Criminalized Survivors

For the past four years, I’ve been consulting with the Stanford Criminal Justice Center on a study examining the prevalence and severity of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the backgrounds of women incarcerated for murder or manslaughter at California’s two correctional facilities for women: the Central California Women’s Facility and California Institution for Women.

Our report, Fatal Peril: Unheard Stories from the IPV-to-Prison Pipeline and Other Voices Touched by Violence, is available now.

We surveyed 649 respondents—representing over 58% of the population incarcerated for homicide in California—their experience with the criminal legal system, their relationship to the person who was killed including if that person was abusive, and the circumstances of the killing.

What we found was tragic and shocking

Nearly three out of four respondents (464 individuals, 74.2%) were abused by an intimate partner the year before their offense. This is ten times the rate for all women in the United States, as reported in the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Respondents detailed physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, stalking, and coercive control from intimate partners and abusive non-partners, as well as cumulative violence that respondents endured throughout their lives. 

About two-thirds of those being abused (66.4%) were at extreme risk of being killed by their intimate partner, according to the Danger Assessment. Alarmingly, 59.9% reported ever being strangled (“choked”) by their partner. Of those who reported ever being strangled, 78.1% (217 of 278) were choked more than once or had passed out, blacked out, or felt dizzy, suggesting a probable traumatic brain injury (TBI).

No matter who was killed, respondents were in potentially lethal abusive relationships. Strangers (28.5%) followed by intimate partners (20.6%) and children (14.5%) were among the most common of eight decedent types. Contrary to their hypothesis, the authors found no statistically significant differences in intimate partner homicide risk by decedent category.

Protections offered by the criminal legal system were inaccessible to many and increased their risk for intimate partner homicide. Many respondents described the ways they had tried and failed to obtain orders of protection, police response, and other assistance from the criminal legal system. Some tried to leave their partner but were unsuccessful; for others, attempting to escape increased their risk for intimate partner homicide. 

What’s Next?

We have a robust dissemination strategy planned, and our ultimate goal is to spur changes in the criminal legal system.

The Stanford team is convening a roundtable discussion with a diverse set of criminal legal stakeholders this fall to identify concrete and viable legal and policy solutions to respond to the report’s findings. I’ll be joining the discussion as an expert in IPV.

I’ll be working on several manuscripts for publication to scholarly journals, as well as presentations at scholarly conferences, including the American Society of Criminology in November.

We’ve already distributed the report to the prisons, including among the prisoner advisory boards so that the women can read it. In January, we will present the findings to persons who are incarcerated.

Stay tuned for more!