This study examined trends in the availability and quality of services and resources for survivors of domestic violence and the relationship of those services to trends in intimate partner homicides.
A direct indicator of survivor safety is the level of intimate partner homicide in a given area. A factor that should play a role in shaping survivor safety is the availability and delivery of services designed specifically for survivors of domestic violence. Recent studies found that domestic violence shelter-based resources offered little or contradictory effectiveness in reducing intimate partner homicides among women. This study supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice presents a systematic examination of aggregate data sources that intended to develop reliable and valid measures for quality of domestic violence resources. The results of this effort led to critically question the reliability and validity of measures used in existing research on inmate partner homicides. The study reveals limitations with the data and data infrastructure on shelter-based organizations and services. This suggests that findings from such research should be viewed with caution. There is a great need for valid and reliable measures that can help toward research on intimate partner homicides. References