VIOLENCE FREE MINNESOTA ISSUES 30 YEAR REPORT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOMICIDE
685 Victims of Intimate Partner Homicide Remembered during Domestic Violence Awareness Month — Intimate Partner Homicide Report
Via Violence-Free Minnesota
SAINT PAUL – On October 1, Governor Walz issued a proclamation declaring October Domestic Violence Awareness Month. That morning Minnesota’s statewide coalition of programs working to address domestic violence – formerly the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women now known as Violence Free Minnesota - released two reports on the state’s victims of intimate partner homicides. One report provides documentation of Minnesota’s 14 victims of domestic violence homicide in 2018. The other is a 30 year retrospective on the state’s 685 known victims of intimate partner homicide.
“We have spent 30 years keeping the memory of Minnesota’s 685 victims of intimate partner homicide alive in the hearts and minds of advocates, policy makers, government employees, and community members,” said Violence Free Minnesota executive director, Liz Richards. “Through our grief, we remain optimistic that through commitment, collaboration, and community action we can achieve a violence free state.”
Violence Free Minnesota provides annual documentation on the state’s victims of intimate partner homicide. Previously known as the Femicide Report, the 2018 Intimate Partner Homicide Report and 30-year retrospective offer insight and case studies on people killed due to domestic violence in the state. Violence Free Minnesota hopes that policy makers and government agencies – like the Department of Public Safety and the Minnesota Department of Health – implement the recommendations made in the report to curb domestic violence in the state.
A press briefing was held to mark the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the release of the 2018 Intimate Partner Homicide Report and 30-year retrospective, and launch the coalition’s new name. The press conference included remarks from Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington; and perspectives from Patina Park, president/CEO of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, and Nicole Matthews, executive director of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition.
Park and Matthews are two of three leaders on the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women’s Task Force. Park discussed how the Task Force is set to address the disparities in reporting and research into the murders of Native women and girls. Matthews expanded the conversation to include discussion on the interplay between domestic violence and homelessness: how domestic violence increases the likelihood of experiencing homelessness and how homelessness then increases vulnerability to continued violence.
In addition to the release of the reports, Minnesota’s programs working with victim/survivors of domestic violence will host awareness events throughout the month of October to draw attention to the issue. The Lowry and I-35 bridges will both be lit purple the night of October 1 to mark the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The Intimate Partner Homicide Report is the only document of its kind in Minnesota. A copy of the report can be found at www.violencefreeminnesota.org. If you are a victim experiencing abuse, please contact DayOne at 866-223-1111 to connect with services.