In 2019, there were eight reported domestic violence homicides in Delaware.1
In 2019, five of the eight reported domestic violence homicides in Delaware were committed with firearms.2
In 2015, there were 1,789 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Delaware, 1,786 of which had a disqualifying Brady Indicator.3
Fatalities
There were 73 reported domestic violence homicides in Delaware between 2011 and 2019.
In 2019, there were eight reported domestic violence homicides, five of which were committed with a firearm. One of the victims was an ex-girlfriend, one was a minor child, one was an ex-wife, two were adult children, one was a wife, one was an uncle of the perpetrators. One victim’s relationship to the perpetrator was categorized as “other”.4
Domestic Violence Homicides
Domestic Violence Homicides by Firearm
Domestic Violence Homicides in Delaware, 2011-2019
Notes:
The Domestic Violence Coordinating Council uses the term domestic violence homicide if the death was a result of domestic violence, either intimate partner violence or between family members. Domestic violence homicide excludes offender suicides and deaths by legal intervention.
* Indicates data is not available.
The Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (DVCC) releases an annual report entitled “Fatal Incident Review Team (FIRT) Annual Report” which includes statistical data on domestic violence fatalities.
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 Delaware is:
Females
37.6% Experienced IPV
62.4% No IPV
Among female victims in Delaware who experienced sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, 62.4% were concerned for safety. Statistically reliable estimates of the percentage of female victims who were injured, needed medical care, or needed legal services are not available.5
Males
32.7% Experienced IPV
67.3% No IPV
Statistically reliable estimates of the percentage of male victims in Delaware 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 Delaware, 2006-2015
There were 1,789 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Delaware in 2015, 1,786 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 Delaware, the term domestic violence homicide is used if the death was a result of domestic violence, either intimate partner violence or between family members. Domestic violence homicide excludes offender suicides and deaths by legal intervention.
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.
Order of protection from abuse (PFA): (PFA) a civil order issued by the Delaware Family Court that provides protection from harm by a family or household member.
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 31, 2021. Please note that data used are the most recent available data.
