Domestic Violence Statistics for Massachusetts

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats, and emotional abuse. The frequency and severity of domestic violence can vary dramatically.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STATISTICS IN MASSACHUSETTS

33.9% of Massachusetts women and 31.7% of Massachusetts men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes.1

• In 2019, there were 28 domestic violence homicides in Massachusetts.2
• In one day in 2019, 1,857 adult and child survivors were served by Massachusetts domestic violence programs. Another 441 requests of services went unmet due to lack of resources.3
• In 2008, domestic violence was declared a public health emergency in Massachusetts.4
• In 2015, there were 30,172 active protective orders in the National Crime Information Center for Massachusetts in 2015, down from a high of approximately 55,000 in 2011. None of these protective orders had a disqualifying Brady indicator.5
• As of December 31, 2019, Massachusetts had submitted 2,442 domestic violence misdemeanor records and no active protective orders to the NICS Index.6
  

DID YOU KNOW?

• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.7
• On a typical day, local domestic violence hotlines receive approximately 19,159 calls, approximately 13 calls every minute.8
• In 2018, domestic violence accounted for 20% of all violent crime.9
• Abusers’ access to firearms increases the risk of intimate partner femicide at least five-fold. When firearms have been used in the most severe abuse incident, the risk increases 41-fold.10
• 65% of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner; 96% of the victims of these crimes are female.11
  

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE-RELATED FIREARMS LAWS IN MASSACHUSETTS

• Massachusetts law prohibits domestic violence12 and stalking13 misdemeanants from possessing firearms. 
• Respondents to final protective orders are prohibited from possessing firearms, including dating partners.14
• Persons prohibited due to final protective orders must surrender their firearms.15
• Massachusetts judges must prohibit respondents to ex parte protective orders from possessing firearms if there’s a substantial likelihood of immediate danger, including dating partners.16 In this case, the respondent must surrender their firearms.17
• Firearm identification cards, issued after a background check, are required for all gun sales in Massachusetts.18
• Massachusetts can strengthen its laws to protect victims and survivors of domestic violence by:
  • Prohibiting dating abusers from possessing firearms;
  • Prohibiting respondents to exparte protective orders from possessing firearms;
  • If requested by the survivor, requiring law enforcement to recover all firearms and ammunition when responding to domestic violence calls.

For more information about domestic violence-related firearms laws in Massachusetts, go to https://www.disarmdv.org/state/massachusetts.

If you are in crisis, contact The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or www.TheHotline.org

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1 National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2019). The national intimate partner and

sexual violence survey: 2010-2012 State Report. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportBook.pdf.

2 Jane Doe Inc. (2020). Overview of domestic violence homicides in Massachusetts: Year to date 2019. Retrieved from https://janedoeinc.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Resources_New/Domestic_Violence/DV_Homicides/Facts_Stats/2019_YTD_Homicides_Narratives. docx.

3 National Network to End Domestic Violence (2020). 14th annual domestic violence counts report. Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://nnedv.org/wp- content/uploads/2020/03/Library_Census-2019_Report_web.pdf.

4 Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2015). Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking in the Workplace Statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.mass.gov/anf/employment-equal-access-disability/hr-policies/dom-violence-sexual-assault-and-stalking-awareness/domestic-violence-sexual- assault-and-stalking.html

5 United States Government Accountability Office (2016). Gun control: Analyzing available data could help improve background checks involving domestic violence records. Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/assets/680/678204.pdf.

6 Instant Criminal Background Check System Section (2020). Active records in the NICS Index as of December 31, 2019. FBI Criminal Justice Information Services. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/active-records-in-the-nics-indices-by-state.pdf/view.

7 Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J., & Stevens, M. (2011). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2010 summary report. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf.

8 National Network to End Domestic Violence (2020). 14th annual domestic violence counts report. Retrieved from https://nnedv.org/wp- content/uploads/2020/03/Library_Census-2019_Report_web.pdf.

9 Truman, J. & Morgan, R. (2014). Nonfatal domestic violence, 2003-2012. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ndv0312.pdf.

10 Campbell, J.C., Webster, D., Koziol-McLain, J., Block, C., Campbell, D., Curry, M. A., Gary, F., Glass, N., McFarlane, J., Sachs, C., Sharps, P., Ulrich, Y.,

Wilt, S., Manganello, J., Xu, X., Schollenberger, J., Frye, V., & Lauphon, K. (2003). Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a

multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health, 93(7), 1089-1097.

11 Violence Policy Center. (2018). American roulette: murder-suicide in the United States. Retrieved from: www.vpc.org/studies/amroul2018.pdf

12 Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 129B(1)(i)(f).

13 Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 129B; Mass. Gen. L. ch. 265, § 43.

14 Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 129B(vii); Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 209A(1).

15 Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 209A(3C).

16 Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 129B(vii); Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 209A(3B).

17 Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 209A(3B).

18 Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 129B; Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 129C; Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 131; Mass. Gen. L. ch. 140, § 131E.

Citation: National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (2020)