In 2013, Oregon lost 34 women and men in fatal domestic violence incidents, a year which also witnessed the introduction of Senate Bill 1551, proposed legislation intended to extend the use of background checks to personal and internet gun sales. The Coalition testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the bill using domestic violence fatality data from 2009-2013 collected by the Coalition and the Multnomah County Domestic Violence Coordinator’s Office. In 2013, 63 percent of victim deaths and 83 percent of perpetrator deaths resulted from gunshot. Between 2009 and 2013, the percentage of victim deaths resulting from gunshot was 64 percent. These figures will not come as a surprise to advocates familiar with the risk factors associated with perpetrators’ access to guns, but the Coalition hopes that this report will aid in your own outreach and awareness-raising activities.
As in the 2012 report, the Coalition has utilized a broad definition of domestic violence, including a wide variety of incidents that take place in the context of a family or household. We track incidents involving roommates, care providers, people related by blood or marriage including extended family, current and former intimate partners, the extended family of current and former intimate partners, and cases of prostitution (covered under the term intimate partner). The term victim as used in this report refers to any individual who was killed, sustained injury, or was otherwise involved in an episode of fatal domestic violence, including bystanders. You will find tables and graphs with data pertaining to all victims, and tables and graphs specifically providing data pertaining to victims who lost their lives (the header of these tables and graphs will refer to “victims killed”). Perpetrator data are provided in the same manner.
This report features a new section dedicated to intimate partner violence (IPV) fatalities that is identical in form to the larger report. The Coalition received feedback on the need for IPV-specific data to be presented separately due to some grant reporting requirements. You will find a broad look at IPV fatality incidents in the state, including in which counties they occurred, frequency per month, and types of incidents. This overview is followed by victim and perpetrator data, including age, gender, relationship, and manner of death. The IPV section concludes with location information and a subsection focused on murder-suicide incidents.
For more information about this report, please contact:
Chloe Massarello
Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
9570 SW Barbur Blvd., Suite 214
Portland, OR 97219
503-230-1951 x. 300
chloe@ocadsv.org
Published 2014
Oregon Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team (ODVFRT)