Maryland

By the Numbers

Summary

  • In 2019, there were 23 reported domestic violence-related deaths (victims only) in Maryland.1
  • In 2019, 69% of domestic violence victims in Maryland were killed with a firearm.2
  • In 2015, there were 9,016 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Maryland, all of which had a disqualifying Brady Indicator.3

Fatalities

There were 272 reported domestic violence-related deaths* (victims only) between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2018 and for the 2019 calendar year.

Sixty-nine percent of all domestic violence-related deaths – including victims and abusers – in Maryland 2019 were by firearm.4

Domestic Violence-Related Deaths (Victims only) in Maryland, July 2011 through June 2018
Domestic Violence-Related Deaths (Victims only) in Maryland, July 2011 through December 2019

Note:

  • Domestic violence-related deaths (victims only) include intimate partners and bystanders who died as a result of domestic violence. It does not include abusers who died by homicide or suicide.
  • *Reporting methods changed in 2018 from reporting July-June to reporting January-December. For this reason, there are likely some missing reported victims between June 2018 and January 2019.

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 Maryland is:

Females

34.4% Experienced IPV
65.6% No IPV

Among female victims in Maryland who experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, 45.4% were concerned for safety, 27.8% were injured, 20.3% needed medical care, and 19.6% needed legal services.4

Males

28.8% Experienced IPV
71.2% No IPV

Statistically reliable estimates of the percentage of male victims in Maryland 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.5

Domestic Violence Protection Orders

Protection Orders Active in the National Crime Information Center for Maryland, 2006-2015

There were 9,016 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Maryland in 2015, all of which had a disqualifying Brady Indicator.5*

Protection Orders with Disqualifying Brady Indicator
Protection Orders without 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 related deaths (victims only): In Maryland, domestic violence-related deaths (victims only) include intimate partners and bystanders who died as a result of domestic violence. It does not include abusers who died by homicide or suicide.
  • 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 June 24, 2021. Please note that data used are the most recent available data.