Last Updated on March 16, 2023 1:50 pm
RALEIGH, N.C. – N.C. Governor’s Crime Commission on Thursday released research by its Criminal Justice Analysis Center that provides new insight into domestic and family violence reported in the state of North Carolina. The report, “Justice Analysis Review: Identifying Domestic Violence in North Carolina,” provides a review of reported domestic violence that includes not only aggravated assault and homicide, but also offenses such as simple assault, kidnapping and intimidation.
“This report presents a comprehensive analysis of reported domestic violence in the state,” said Caroline Farmer, executive director of the Governor’s Crime Commission. “It will help government and advocacy groups better understand the size and the shape of this type of crime in our communities, so we can develop policies and allocate resources that will deliver impact.”
Data analysts with the Criminal Justice Analysis Center reviewed crime report data submitted to the National Incident-Based Reporting System by local and state law enforcement agencies from 2019 to 2021. They conducted a review of offenses committed by offenders in close relationships with victims. The analysis identified statistical differences between domestic violence incidents and other types of crimes against a person, both in the gender of victims and also in the location of the offenses.
“This assessment of domestic and family violence shows the importance of how we count instances of this type of crime,” said Michelle Beck, director of the Criminal Justice Analysis Center. “Our team’s analysis doesn’t just provide a view of three years of data. It sets a framework for measuring the prevalence of domestic violence in our state moving forward.”
The analysis of 2019-2021 data found the following:
- 21,199 incidents of aggravated assault and homicide were committed by a current or former intimate partner or family member during the 3-year period.
- 138,375 reports of simple assault made this the most common type of domestic and family violence reported during the three-year period.
- 71% of domestic and family violence victims in 2021 were women.
- 81% of domestic and family violence incidents in 2021 occurred in a residence or home.
