The 2023 report from the New York City Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee is a stark wake-up call. Intimate partner violence (IPV) has surged by a harrowing 29.1% between 2021 and 2022, marking the second-largest increase in a decade. This crisis demands our immediate attention, and we cannot afford to remain silent any longer.
While the city administration boasts about reduced crime rates, heralding New York City as the safest big city globally, we refuse to ignore the grim truth. For those living through the horrors of intimate partner violence, this supposed safety is not reality. We stand with those who are suffering, because there is much more work to be done to ensure their safety.
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The shocking 29.1% increase in intimate partner fatalities between 2021 and 2022 is not a mere statistic. It is a devastating reality that we must confront head-on. Despite progress in reducing other forms of homicides, intimate partner homicides persist, escalating by a jaw-dropping 225% in Brooklyn alone and 57% in the Bronx during the same period.
This surge in intimate partner homicides is a direct result of long-standing disinvestment in services for survivors, disproportionately impacting Black and Hispanic women from marginalized communities. The statistics speak volumes: Black women, constituting only 13% of the city’s population, account for a staggering 31.2% of intimate partner homicides. Similarly, Hispanic women, comprising 14.6% of the population, account for 27.3% of these tragedies.
Intimate partner violence affects individuals of all races, but access to resources and support can make a life-saving difference. It is clear that New York City has failed Black and brown women who deserve safety, security, and above all, the right to live. In addition, New York City’s reporting of intimate partner violence breaks down intimate partner violence along a gender binary. As a result, a true understanding of the impacts of violence on members of the LGBTQIA+ community is impossible.
Let’s acknowledge the painful truth – our city has a history of devastating cuts to services for IPV survivors. Recent cuts, such as the 15% PEG in the November Plan and a 2.5% reduction in the 2023 NYC budget, have been crippling. Supportive services on the state level are also in dire need of funding to bridge the significant shortfall in federal VOCA dollars.
But here’s the solution: when cities invest strategically in crime reduction and prevention, focusing on family and community-based strategies, we see real reductions in violent crime. Urban Resource Institute (URI) is unwavering in its commitment to breaking the cycles that fuel intimate partner violence and homelessness.
We call upon New York City to prioritize investments in violence prevention, particularly aimed at youth, programs engaging those who cause harm, and holistic community solutions to end domestic violence. We have the tools, the knowledge, and the will to put an end to domestic violence and homelessness.
There are no excuses left for an increase in domestic violence homicides when we possess the means to eradicate this crisis.
