A new report found that Wisconsin saw 85 domestic violence-related deaths in 2023, a slight decrease from the previous year. 

The report’s release comes as organizations offering support to victims of domestic violence are facing steep budget cuts due to a decline in federal funding. Advocates have warned those budget cuts — which may mean less access to shelters, resources and legal advocacy — could lead to an increase in domestic violence deaths moving forward. 

The annual report, released by End Abuse, a statewide coalition of organizations and policy experts, is gathered using crime data from the Wisconsin Department of Justice and supplemented with other sources. The report’s total count of deaths includes domestic violence victims as well as other family members killed in an incident and perpetrators who died by suicide or were killed by law enforcement or by their victims.

This year’s report found there were 66 incidents of domestic violence-related homicide resulting in the death of 54 victims. In 17 cases the perpetrator died by suicide after killing their partner or after law enforcement responded. Law enforcement killed the perpetrator in seven incidents and in four the victim killed the perpetrator in self-defense. 

The report includes a series of recommendations, primarily focused on addressing structural inequities and systemic racism as well as controlling the spread of firearms.

“We call for action we know will save lives,” the report states. “Year after violent year, we offer data-backed solutions, tell stories encapsulating victims’ and advocates’ experiences, and make explicit requests from lawmakers. Year after year, we hope the stories of those who died will illuminate these requests. We ask, again: Prioritize lives that will otherwise be lost to preventable violence.” 

On Oct. 1, the start of domestic violence awareness month, a group of Dane County-based advocates rallied outside the Capitol demanding support for the organizations that work to keep victims safe. 

“Domestic violence is not something that happens somewhere else to someone else, it happens right here in our community, to people that we know and love,” said Shannon Barry, executive director of Madison’s Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS). “We have the data. The statistics show us how frequently this is happening. We see the arrests, the calls for help and the tragic homicides directly tied to domestic violence. We know the impact, but knowing the numbers alone won’t change anything, because what we need is for this community to care, to act and to stand with us and stand with survivors.” 

The End Abuse report found that more than 77% of perpetrators in domestic violence homicide incidents were male. The average age of perpetrators was 38, and the average age of victims was 38.

The incidents took place in 22 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, with 42% in rural counties and the other 58% in urban counties. Almost half of the incidents  —  28 — occurred in Milwaukee County. Of the victims in the domestic abuse homicides, 28 were Black and 28 were white, according to the report. 

By far, the most common method used in Wisconsin’s domestic violence homicides was guns, with 55 of the deaths coming by firearm. The next most common method was stabbing, which was used in eight of the incidents. 

At the DAIS rally, one of the organization’s board members, Rachel Reilly, discussed how hard it can be for someone in an abusive relationship to ask for help. Reilly told the gathered crowd of a few dozen people about how she left an abusive marriage, the panic attacks she suffered while working up the courage to ask DAIS for help, and that her ex-husband killed his new girlfriend and himself after she left. 

“There isn’t a moment that goes by that I don’t truly believe that DAIS is what helped me be safe and helped my kid be safe,” Reilly said. 

Reilly concluded by noting the sharp budget cuts organizations in Dane County and across the state are facing. 

The report identifies a number of policy areas in which progress would also help reduce domestic violence rates in Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin has the highest homicide rate for Black women in the country. The report connects domestic violence to many of Wisconsin’s structural inequities for Black residents, including rates of poverty, incarceration, unemployment and educational attainment. 

“Addressing DV requires recognizing its economic dimensions and structural roots,” the report states. “To tackle this crisis effectively, the Wisconsin legislature should establish a task force to investigate and address the root causes of violence against Black women and girls. This task force would analyze contributing factors and recommend actions to the legislature to eliminate this violence.”

Easy access to firearms and a shortage of affordable housing options are also named as factors that lead to increases in domestic violence homicides. 

“A lack of affordable housing leaves victims with few options for escaping abusive situations,” the report states. “Without stable housing, survivors face greater barriers to accessing safety and support, increasing their vulnerability to lethal violence. Housing instability forces survivors to stay in unsafe environments due to financial constraints. Inadequate eviction laws and financial aid exacerbate this problem, leaving victims with few options for escaping abusive situations.”

Many of the factors the report notes are areas that will be affected by the advocacy organizations’ budget struggles. The report notes that 73% of unmet requests at domestic violence support agencies are for emergency housing and that service deserts in rural parts of the state contribute to deaths. 

“Federal funding, already dwindling for years, will be slashed by 70% in October 2024, leaving Wisconsin’s local DV programs struggling to meet the needs of survivors,” the report states. 

“Beyond the moral and ethical imperative to act, there are over $657 million in annual economic losses associated with domestic violence,” the report adds. “We must meaningfully increase funding in our state budget in the long-term to address this crisis of violence and remove existing funding barriers that prevent flexible service delivery and prevention efforts.”