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A new legislative initiative is seeking to address the alarming rates of intimate partner violence and killings through mandatory lethality assessments during domestic violence calls.
In the wake of high-profile cases like that of Gabby Petito, who was killed by her fiancé in 2021, Utah took a decisive step by enacting a law requiring police to conduct “lethality assessments” at domestic violence scenes. Now more states are looking at taking similar measures.
The model lethality assessment practice, developed by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, involves an 11-question survey designed to evaluate whether a person’s life is at immediate risk. The assessment not only informs the victim of their screening score, but also connects them with a local domestic violence service hotline, facilitating the development of an immediate safety plan that may include emergency shelter.
Alfreda Lyons, a domestic violence survivor and godmother of domestic violence victim Andreae Lloyd — who was killed by her boyfriend in 2021 — explained the potential impact of lethality assessments to Stateline: “There’s so many things I believe that you can garner from that assessment … it could be key to survival.”
According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, more than a third of the 4,970 female murder victims in 2021 were killed by an intimate partner, with women being five times more likely to be murdered by an intimate partner than men.
The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence developed the Lethality Assessment Program in 2003, based on the Danger Assessment, a screening tool developed by Jacquelyn Campbell of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in 1985. The questions aim to identify factors significantly increasing the risk of homicide, such as prior strangulation, the partner owning a gun or the victim attempting to separate from the relationship. The network works with state and local agencies across the country to train police and domestic violence service workers to use the assessments.
While some Utah law enforcement agencies already had lethality assessments in place, the recent state law has led to a substantial increase in shelter demand and referrals there. Florida State Senator Lauren Book has recently introduced a bill to mandate lethality assessments in her state as well.
The push to mandate assessments is relatively new, but many states already encourage their use, including Connecticut, Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. In North Carolina, Attorney General Josh Stein has been actively promoting the statewide use of lethality assessments, responding to a 25% rise in domestic violence-related homicides in 2023 compared to 2022.
This trend continues on the back of 25% to 33% increases in domestic violence cases in 2020 that were associated with COVID-19 lockdowns, according to American Journal of Emergency Medicine reports.
Experts say that encouraging buy-in from law enforcement agency leaders to initiate policies supporting lethality assessments at the local level can be more effective than statewide mandates. Even when laws are enacted, implementation can be inconsistent. However, officials are hopeful that growing use of the assessments will have a positive effect.
“Ultimately, it’s going to save lives,” said Skye Sullivan, director of the Family Justice Center of Alamance County, Maryland. “These numbers have steadily been going up. The biggest issue you have in trying to prevent homicide is that a lot of agencies are very siloed. A lot of systems are underfunded, and they’re understaffed.”
Beyond preventing immediate harm, lethality assessments also aim to connect victims with critical services such as temporary housing, mental health care and culturally sensitive support groups.
The hope is that these assessments will not only save lives but also address the systemic issues contributing to domestic violence disparities, especially in marginalized communities.
As families of victims continue to grapple with the profound impact of domestic violence, the introduction and enforcement of legislation mandating lethality assessments stand as a crucial step toward preventing further tragedies and providing support to those at risk.
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