Intimate Partner Violence: A Best Practices Guide for Prosecutors in Smaller Jurisdictions

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts people irrespective of income, education, and geography. In the United States, one in five homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner, and over half of female homicide victims are killed by a current or former male partner. Over 10 million women and men continue to experience IPV each year. IPV is an age-old social concern that continues to torment millions of people across the nation.

With this sobering reality in mind, the IIP’s Beyond Big Cities members came together to discuss their experiences with IPV cases. These conversations highlighted successful approaches to combating IPV in smaller communities, revealed unique challenges that rural communities face relating to IPV, and explored innovative responses to IPV. This document provides a survey of IPV prosecution in smaller jurisdictions, particularly rural ones, based on research and information that Beyond Big Cities members provided to the authors.

Keywords: intimate partner violence, domestic violence, criminal law, prosecution, law and rurality