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In NYC, 2022 was a grim year for domestic violence homicide. Things have gotten worse.

Elizabeth Shwe

Sean Carlson

and

Herb Pinder

Published Feb 10, 2024

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Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Image

Elizabeth Shwe

Sean Carlson

and

Herb Pinder

Published Feb 10, 2024

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New crime data for New York City paints a dim picture of how we're getting along — in our own homes.

There were 71 domestic violence homicide deaths in New York in 2022, up nearly 15% from the year before, according to a recently released report from the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence. That includes an almost 30% jump in domestic violence homicides involving intimate partners, such as married couples, divorced people, and people who are dating.

"All Things Considered" host Sean Carlson discussed the findings — and the lives behind the numbers — on WNYC with Saloni Sethi, the office's acting commissioner.

A transcript of their conversation follows. It has been lightly edited for clarity.

Carlson: Commissioner, all told, there were 854 domestic violence homicides in the city between the years 2010 and 2022, according to the report. What's driving those numbers, and is there any sense the picture improved in 2023?

Sethi: Our office really thinks about domestic violence as nothing short of a public health crisis. And unfortunately, when we're looking at the data for 2023, we haven't really seen any improvement from 2022. We've seen a slight uptick. I think right now we're at about 73 homicides related to domestic violence in 2023.

In terms of domestic violence, I think it's really important that we sort of acknowledge what we’re talking about. When we’re talking about intimate partner violence, we mean violence that occurs between people who are in any kind of intimate relationship, a dating relationship, living together, any kind of romantic relationship. (There were 31 fatalities in this subset category in 2022, up from 24 the year before.) And other family violence that really includes everything else — violence between siblings, aunts and uncles, child on parent, parent on child. (There were 40 such homicides in 2022, up from 38 in 2021.)

The report says there are persistent racial and gender disparities that show up in the data. Black and Hispanic women make up a disproportionate share of the victims. What is the explanation behind that?

One of the things that we know is that our system sort of has baked in bias and inequity. And that the systems that we've built don't work for everybody equally, especially when so many of our solutions to these problems rely on systems like our criminal justice system, which is great when it works, but we also know it doesn't work for everybody equally. It doesn't reach everybody.

So I think for our office, what's really important as we look at this data and ask where are the gaps? Who are we not reaching? Right? I think one of the great things that this report does is it really says which systems are in contact with these folks and which ones aren't and sort of gives us a direction to move forward.

How is your office responding to these challenges? Is there a strategy in place?

One is really around prevention education. I think when I grew up, we didn't really have conversations about what was healthy or unhealthy in relationships. And sometimes these unhealthy behaviors get normalized.

So we’re really thinking about, how do we uplift relationships that are healthy? How do we uplift healthy behaviors? How do we talk to young people about navigating conflict and consent and boundaries? And the other thing that I think our office is really dedicated to is, we're really exploring accountability for people who cause harm.

That's something that's coming from the survivors that we work with, who have often been asking. They've been saying, “you know, I don't want to leave my relationship. I don't want to end my relationship. I just want the abuse to stop.”

So, I think for us, we've been working on developing what that looks like in terms of programs for people who cause harm to hold them accountable for their own behavior and provide them tools to change behavior.

The Urban Resource Institute, a service provider and advocacy group, has been critical in working with these issues. Now, it says in its own report that budget cuts have hurt efforts to address the problem and pending cuts would be disastrous. What is the outlook for funding?

So, for our office in particular, we've been incredibly fortunate, and I know that the city is obviously in a budget crisis. But in terms of our own services, we actually haven't had any cuts to the services that our office provides, which includes direct free walk-in services for all survivors of domestic and gender-based violence, so we've actually been able to expand funding and expand for certain key programs.

We have a hotline for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence, and we've been able to add funding to that so that as of this summer it'll also include text and chat functionality, providing another kind of way to reach folks.

I'm sure there are some people listening who can see themselves or maybe loved ones in these numbers. What would you tell them about what help looks like or where they can turn to for support?

I think it's really important for folks to know that you're not alone. Our real goal is to make sure that you and what you need and what you want is centered at every step in the process. And it's really about having a conversation to understand what your options are.

You can walk into any of our five family justice centers. There's one in each borough to receive services that day and talk to somebody that day about what your options may be, and services are available in all languages, regardless of immigration status.

They're free. They're confidential. You also call the domestic violence hotline: 1-800-621-HOPE or 1-800-4673. And we have a website, which again has resources and information. You might not even be sure whether you're in a relationship or in a situation where you may need help.

So what are the signs? What are the red flags, right? Visit www.nyc.gov/NYCHOPE.

Tagged

gender-based discrimination

nypd

new york

HOMICIDE

domestic violence

Race And Justice Unit

Elizabeth Shwe

Sean Carlson

Before coming to New York Public Radio, Sean worked in print, online and radio news around the mid-Atlantic region and Alaska. A New Jersey native, he holds a B.A. from the New School University in Greenwich Village and an M.A. from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.

Herb Pinder

Herb is the editor of the Race & Justice unit. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-922-2497.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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