Domestic violence deaths doubled
Report finds that in three years, region saw disturbing rise, leading to call for more help
Domestic violence killings doubled across the Houston region between 2019 and 2022, a fact that’s leading local domestic violence experts to call for better funding and more coordination to stem the uptick.
Investigators with the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigated 32 homicides in 2019 in which they suspect domestic violence played a role, according to a report from the University of Houston released Wednesday. By 2022, that number had increased to 64.
“The report brought home that what we see on TV and in newspapers is true, that domestic violence is getting worse,” said Amy Smith, senior director of operations and communications with the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, an organization cited in the report. “And we all need to work together to see what the solution is.”
A Houston Police Department spokesperson declined to comment, saying department officials were still reviewing the report. The UH findings come in the wake of city officials noting drops in violent crime throughout Houston last year. Those reports, however, did not break out homicides sparked by domestic violence.
The local spike in domestic violence homicides was hard to reduce to a simple solution, said Elizabeth Gregory, director of University of Houston’s Institute for Research on Woman, Gender and Sexuality and one of the authors of the report. But she said she hoped the report would help convey the scope of the problem, and how state and local entities can reduce the risk of domestic violence homicides
through more funding for aid organizations.
The pandemic and resulting lockdowns played some role in domestic violence, but can hardly be the sole reason behind the dramatic increase, she said.
“It seems like one factor that changed since the end of lockdown is the move to permitless carry in Texas,” Gregory said. “The rise of gun deaths has continued even as the overall homicide rate declines has to play some role.”
Smith echoed much of what Gregory said, explaining that personally, domestic violence experts have witnessed several setbacks in recent years that have complicated their work.
“It seems like every time we take a few steps forward, we get pushed back,” she said. “We are doing everything we can to combat this pandemic of domestic violence. We need help from the community, help from the Legislature and from the city and county. We need help.”
Authors of the report interviewed more than 16 administrators for domestic violence organizations around the Houston region, finding that Harris County has just 330 shelter beds, compared to New York City, which has double the population but 10 times as many shelter beds, with 3,500.
Other findings include guns being listed as responsible for 73 percent of intimate partner deaths between 2019 to 2022, according to the study.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision ruling it was unconstitutional to keep people who have domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns is just one example in how legislation and court rulings have worsened the problem in recent years, Smith said.
Black women were also especially at risk of becoming victims in domestic violence homicides, comprising about 52 percent of those investigated by local agencies, despite Black women only making up 20 percent of the county’s female population, according to the report.
After investigating 32 deaths in 2019, deputies and police investigated 46 in 2020 and 60 in 2021, according to the report.
Smith said many factors have combined to make the problem especially acute in Harris County and surrounding counties.
The report calls on local organizations to add $1 million per year for five years that would allow for better communication among partner agencies and additional staff.