MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul is reminding Wisconsinites to speak out against domestic violence during October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The pandemic has resulted in greater challenges for survivors of domestic violence. It’s especially critical at this time to join together in homicide prevention efforts, supporting survivors of abuse with a victim-centered response and holding perpetrators accountable,” said Attorney General Kaul.

Domestic violence occurs when one intimate partner seeks to maintain power and control over the other partner, which may be exhibited as verbal or emotional abuse, intimidation, isolation, economic abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or other abuses. The trauma from these abusive behaviors can have significant impact on survivors and can, ultimately, result in death.

According to the annual Wisconsin Domestic Violence Homicide Report from End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin, 811 victims were killed in domestic violence homicides from 2000 through 2019 in Wisconsin, excluding homicides involving legal intervention. In 2019, domestic violence claimed 72 lives, including both victims and perpetrators. Additional information detailed in the report, includes:

• At least 56% of the victims of intimate partner homicide were killed after the relationship ended or when one person was taking steps to end the relationship.
• Firearms remained the most common means of perpetrating domestic violence homicides. Firearms were used in 55% of domestic violence homicides.
• Domestic violence homicides were committed in 23 counties
• Many of the 2019 homicide cases reflect the risk factors that research has found to be associated with lethal violence. These include, among other factors: threats to use or actual use of a weapon, threats to kill, stalking, strangulation, obsessive jealousy, and sexual assault

Tragically, past domestic violence homicides in Wisconsin have claimed the lives not only of victims, but of their family members, friends, co-workers and law enforcement.

To find a domestic violence program in your area, please visit https://www.endabusewi.org/get-help/.