There are many reasons that survivors of domestic violence do not report their victimizations to law enforcement. Two of the most common are fears that the criminal justice system will fail them, as it too often does, and fear of reprisals from the partner who has harmed them. Both fears are real.
“This action has removed one of the few tools that survivors have to protect themselves and their children. It is hard to reconcile the courts’ reliance on antiquated laws and their perceived intent with the statistics on femicide,” said CEO Lori Jump, StrongHearts Native Helpline. “By ignoring data and factual evidence, the courts subject survivors and children to gun laws that refuse to protect them.”
Studies by experts across the nation and the world have proven that domestic violence and femicide are intricately linked. For example:
Abusers with access to a gun are five times more likely to kill their female victims.
Every month, an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner.
92 percent of all women killed with guns in high-income countries in an average year were from the United States.
“Decades worth of legislation designed to protect women are being overturned by judges appointed by conservative politicians with an agenda that does not align with the vast majority of Americans,” concluded Jump. “The right to safety is being denied to one class of citizens - women. Our fight for women’s rights especially as they pertain to domestic and sexual violence will continue.”
