Rhode Island

By the Numbers

Summary

  • In 2015, there were seven domestic violence homicides in Rhode Island.1
  • In 2015, there were 10,142 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Rhode Island, 3,785 of which had a disqualifying Brady Indicator.2

Fatalities

Between 2006 and 2015, there were 54 domestic violence homicides in Rhode Island.3

Domestic Violence Homicides
Domestic Violence Homicides in Rhode Island, 2006-2015

Note:

Rhode Island’s Domestic Violence Prevention Act (RIGL §12-29) defines domestic violence as any crime that occurs between people who are in one or more of the following relationships: Current or former spouses; persons of any age with a child in common; persons of any age who have been in a substantive dating relationship within the past year; adults related by blood or marriage; and/or adults who have lived together within the last three years. In addition, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence report (from where this data was found) also includes information on homicides involving former intimate partners whose relationship ended more than one year before the homicide occurred.

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 Rhode Island is:

Females

32.6% Experienced IPV
67.4% No IPV

Among female victims in Rhode Island who experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, 51.4% were concerned for safety, 35.5% were injured, 20.1% needed medical care, and 24.1% needed legal services.4

Males

25.4% Experienced IPV
74.6% No IPV

Statistically reliable estimates of the percentage of male victims in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island, 2006-2015

There were 10,142 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Rhode Island in 2015, 3,785 of which had a disqualifying Brady Indicator.6

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.

Protection Orders in the National Crime Information Center
Protection Orders with Disqualifying Brady Indicator

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: Rhode Island’s Domestic Violence Prevention Act (RIGL §12-29) defines domestic violence as any crime that occurs between people who are in one or more of the following relationships: Current or former spouses; persons of any age with a child in common; persons of any age who have been in a substantive dating relationship within the past year; adults related by blood or marriage; and/or adults who have lived together within the last three years. In addition, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence report (from where this data was found) also includes information on homicides involving former intimate partners whose relationship ended more than one year before the homicide occurred
  • 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 23, 2021. Please note that data used are the most recent available data.