Armed Abusers, Domestic Violence, Texas 2023

BEAUMONT, Texas - The Texas U.S. Attorneys office announced that the Justice Department's Office of Violence Against Women will direct more than $18 million in grant funding to Texas to support efforts to curb domestic violence throughout the state.

As the state grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, reports indicate that many cities, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, may be experiencing surges in domestic violence. Research shows that intimate partner homicides are troublingly common, and often come with collateral fatalities.

According to the CDC, roughly 1 in 6 homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner. Tragically, Texas accounts for 10 percent of the nation's domestic violence homicides. Armed abusers are especially dangerous, as research shows that abusers with a gun in the home are five times more likely to kill their partners than abusers who don't have access to a firearm.

In June 2019, Attorney General William P. Barr formed a Domestic Violence Working Group to encourage prosecution of armed domestic violence offenders. Districts across the nation, including all four districts in Texas, have prioritized their own initiatives designed to keep guns out of the hands of abusers. In the 18 months since the first federal domestic violence initiative kicked off in Dallas, federal prosecutors in Texas have charged dozens of armed abusers with gun crimes.

The federal government is just one in a host of stakeholders determined to end the scourge of domestic violence - and only a portion of domestic violence cases fall within federal jurisdiction. The OVW grants announced today will provide resources to local prosecutors, victim service providers, healthcare professionals, training organizations, and academic researchers, including several with national scope.

“Having worked closely with the Office on Violence Against Women over the past few years, I know how critical OVW's funding for law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim services is in fighting violence against women,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox. “We are particularly glad to see this assistance in Texas, as it will undoubtedly improve criminal justice and collaboration in responding to domestic and sexual violence — and hopefully encourage victims to come forward to take advantage of these resources.”

“Putting an end to domestic violence requires effort from everyone in a community and OVW is proud to support the work being done in Texas,” said OVW Principal Deputy Director Laura L. Rogers. “Our funding supports law enforcement, prosecutors and brings people together to work for a common cause. These strong partnerships lead to creative solutions to prevent violence.”

Among the $18 million in awards that will be issued to organizations and government agencies in Texas are:

More than $11.8 million in formula funds to the state to support law enforcement, prosecutors, victim services providers, and courts in working collaboratively to respond to domestic and sexual violence.

$1.76 million to cities and counties across Texas to improve the criminal justice response to domestic and sexu

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edtx/pr/texas-us-attorneys-announce-18-million-domestic-violence-funding-doj-s-office-violence