The rate did not rise, and who was killed changed

Pandemic stressors prompted widespread concern that intimate partner violence
would increase. This report tested that against the most severe outcome.

What it found

The overall rate of intimate partner homicide among women remained stable
from 2018–2019 to 2020–2021.

The headline fear was not borne out. But two things changed underneath it:

1. **The proportion of victims who were non-Hispanic Black or African American
   women increased.**
2. Suspects were more frequently previously known to law enforcement.

Why a stable rate can still be a bad finding

A national rate that does not move can conceal a redistribution of who is
dying. That is what happened here: the same number of women, a different
composition.

**The exacerbation of racial disparities highlights the importance of
comprehensive prevention efforts and further research into the influences of
structural factors on intimate partner violence, including homicide.**

Structural factors is the term the report chooses, and it follows from the
finding. A disparity that widened during a period of economic and social
disruption points at housing, income, work and the ability to leave — not at
anything about the relationships themselves.

The missed opportunity

**Contact with law enforcement represents a potential missed opportunity for
preventing future violence.**

Suspects were more often already known to police. Which means, in a meaningful
share of these homicides, the system had already encountered the person who
would go on to kill — and the encounter did not prevent it.

That is the most actionable sentence in the report, and the hardest.

*Source: Rowh A, Jack S. Notes from the Field: Intimate Partner Homicide Among
Women — United States, 2018–2021. MMWR, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.*