Texas

By the Numbers

Summary

  • In 2019, there were 150 intimate partner femicides in Texas.1
  • In 2019, 63% (n=88) of intimate partner femicides in Texas were committed with a firearm.2
  • In 2019, there were 185 intimate partner homicides in Texas.3
  • In 2015, there were 20,738 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Texas, 2,169 of which had a disqualifying Brady Indicator.4

Fatalities

In 2019, there were 150 intimate partner femicides * in Texas, 63% (n=95) of which were committed with a firearm. There were 1,373 intimate partner femicides between 2010 and 2019. Looking at total intimate partner homicides, * there were 185 in Texas in 20195

 

 

Intimate Partner Femicides
Intimate Partner Femicides by Firearm
Intimate Partner Homicides
Intimate Partner Femicides and Homicides in Texas, 2010-2019

Note:

  1. Each year, the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) conducts a fatality review of women killed by a male intimate partner. From the report, “in order to identify all female victims of intimate violence homicides in 2016, TCFV monitored media in all 254 Texas counties and reviewed law enforcement and County and District Attorneys’ communication releases. In addition, TCFV researched each femicide case with local and state partners. TCFV took care to confirm the accuracy of information through various means, primarily law enforcement, Department of Public Safety, media, victim advocates, and family violence programs.”
  2. Beginning in 2018, the TCFV expanded to collect data on male intimate partner homicide victims. In addition to women killed by a male intimate partner (what was historically collected and reported), the new reports include men killed by a female intimate partner and male and female victims killed by a same-sex intimate partner.

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 Texas is:

Females

40.1% Experienced IPV
59.9% No IPV

Among female victims in Texas who experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, 59.4% were concerned for safety, 36.9% were injured, 21.7% needed medical care, and 23.8% needed legal services.5

Males

34.9% Experienced IPV
65.1% No IPV

Among male victims in Texas who experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, 14.5% were concerned for safety and 11.1% were injured. Statistically reliable estimates of the percentage of male victims who 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 Texas, 2006-2015

There were 20,738 active protection orders in the National Crime Information Center for Texas in 2015, 2,169 of which had a disqualifying Brady Indicator.7

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.
  • Intimate partner: Romantic or sexual partner and includes spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, people with whom they dated, were seeing, or “hooked up.”
  • Intimate partner femicide: The Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) conducts a fatality review of intimate partner femicide, defined as women killed by a male intimate partner.
  • 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 May 13, 2021. Please note that data used are the most recent available data.