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Domestic Violence Calls Increase Nationwide as Americans Shelter in Place

3.26.2020

While the coronavirus pandemic keeps Americans at home, law enforcement and domestic violence prevention organizations are sounding the alarm that isolation could increase the risk of abuse for victims of domestic violence. Moms Demand Action volunteers and survivors of gun violence are available to discuss the deadly link between guns and domestic violence. 

This problem is already presenting itself in states across the country: 

Intimate partner violence and gun violence in the U.S. are inextricably linked, impacting millions of women, families, and communities across the country. When a domestic abuser has access to a gun, they are five times more likely to kill their victim. 

Every month, an average of 53 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. Nearly one million women alive today have reported being shot or shot at by intimate partners, and 4.5 million women have reported being threatened with a gun. Children also bear the terrible burden of gun-related domestic violence: Data drawn from 16 states indicate that nearly two-thirds of child fatalities involving domestic violence were caused by guns. 

More information on the link between guns and domestic violence is available here