In 2019, there were 70 domestic violence-related fatalities in Colorado.1
In 2019, 64% (n=45) of reported domestic-related fatalities were committed with a firearm.2
In 2015, there were 86,073 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Colorado, 24,009 of which had a disqualifying Brady Indicator.3
Fatalities
In 2019, there were 70 reported domestic violence (DV)-related fatalities in Colorado, representing a 62.7% increase from the previous year. Sixty-four percent of these fatalities (n=45) were committed with a firearm.
Of the 70 fatalities in 2019, 39 (55.7%) were the primary victims of DV, 3 (4.2%) were collateral adults, 1 (1.4%) was a child, and 27 (38.5%) were the perpetrators of DV. Most of the deaths (27 or 38.5%) were women killed by current or former male partners, followed by men who died by suicide (16 or 22.8%).4
Number of Reported Domestic Violence Related Fatalities
Number of Domestic Violence Related Fatalities by Firearm
Domestic Violence Homicides in Colorado, 2017-2019
Notes:
The definition of a domestic violence (DV)-related fatality includes murder, murder/suicide, collateral deaths (friends, family members, neighbors, or other bystanders killed), suicides (includes suicides that occurred after a homicide and isolated perpetrator or victim suicides), and any other death determined to be related to domestic violence.
*The reporting of DV-related fatalities changed in 2017 so the number of DV-related fatalities by firearms is unavailable through this reporting for 2015-2016.
Intimate Partner Violence*Victimization and Related Impacts*
The lifetime prevalence* of any contact sexual violence*, physical violence,* and/or stalking victimization* by an intimate partner* in Colorado is:
Females
36.8% Experienced IPV
63.2% No IPV
Among female victims in Colorado who experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, 58.7% were concerned for safety, 40.8% were injured, 21.7% needed medical care, and 25.7% needed legal services.5
Males
30.5% Experienced IPV
69.5% No IPV
Statistically reliable estimates of the percentage of male victims in Colorado who experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime who were concerned for safety, injured, needed medical care, or needed legal services are not available.6
Domestic Violence Protection Orders
Protection Orders Active in the National Crime Information Center for Colorado, 2006-2015
There were 86,073 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Colorado in 2015, 24,009 of which had a disqualifying Brady Indicator.7
Protection Orders in the National Crime Information Center
Protection Orders with Disqualifying Brady Indicator
Note: State participation in the National Crime Information Center protection order file is voluntary, thus the extent to which states enter the orders into the system varies. Regardless of how each state refers to such orders, these records are uniformly referred to as “protection orders” in the National Crime Information Center database.
Definitions
Contact sexual violence: Combined measure that includes rape, being made to penetrate someone else, sexual coercion, and/or unwanted sexual contact.
Domestic violence homicide: In Colorado, homicide in the context of domestic violence: “an act of violence upon a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship.” Colorado Revised Statute 12-36-135(a).
Intimate partner: Romantic or sexual partner and includes spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, people with whom they dated, were seeing, or “hooked up.”
Intimate partner violence: The five types of intimate partner violence measured in the NISVS include sexual violence, stalking, physical violence, psychological aggression, and control of reproductive/sexual health. Sexual violence includes rape, being made to penetrate someone else, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and non-contact unwanted sexual experiences.
Intimate partner violence related impacts: For each perpetrator of domestic violence, the NISVS survey asks victims about specific direct impacts related to intimate partner violence to better understand the consequences of contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner.
Lifetime prevalence:Proportion of a population who, at some point in life, have ever experienced the characteristic or condition.
Protection orders with a disqualifying Brady Indicator: Protection orders related to domestic violence that have been identified as those that prohibit the individual from receiving or possessing firearms under federal law.
Physical violence: A range of behaviors from slapping, pushing, or shoving to severe acts that include being hit with a fist or something hard, kicked, hurt by pulling hair, slammed against something, tried to hurt by choking or suffocating, beaten, burned on purpose, or used a knife or gun.
Stalking victimization: Pattern of harassing or threatening tactics used by a perpetrator that is both unwanted and causes fear or safety concerns in the victim.
This page was updated March 29, 2021. Please note that data used are the most recent available data.