The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) is one of the nation’s leading advocacy groups providing training and assistance against domestic violence. In the same way that issues like climate change are situated as national concerns, NNEDV works tirelessly to position domestic violence as a national priority. One of the ways they accomplish this is via the dissemination of their annual Domestic Violence Counts Report.
Now on its 17th edition, the report covers 5 critical areas:
- The number of people seeking domestic violence services in a 24-hour time span;
- Types of services;
- The number of requests that could not be met (due to insufficient resources);
- The barriers or issues programs face in providing services;
- Federal policies that could help programs and survivors.
The usefulness of the report has grown exponentially, providing national experts, policymakers, and journalists the data they need to report on survivor needs and advocate for funding and changes to ensure programs have the resources they need.
The 17th edition was released earlier this year and data came from 1,642 identified domestic violence programs. This was a response rate of 84% (a US total of 1,955 programs exist). The data is a snapshot of one single day, and that day was September 7, 2022.
Some of the top services provided on September 7th were the following:
Service
% of Programs Providing the Service
Emergency Shelter
70%
Children’s Support or Advocacy
53%
Court Accompaniment or Legal Advocacy
53%
Support/Advocacy Related to Housing/Landlord
52%
Transportation
50%
Support/Advocacy Related to Mental Health
45%
Support/Advocacy Related to Public Benefits/TANF/Welfare
43%
In terms of victims served, NNEDV reported 79,335 nationwide while Arizona registered 1,485. Of the victims served, 44,882 adult and child victims found safe refuge in motels, hotels, transitional housing, or emergency shelters. In Arizona, this figure was 826.
One of the most eye-opening parts of the report dealt with “people educated.” On September 7th nationwide, local domestic violence programs imparted 521 public training sessions, educating 9,882 people on domestic violence prevention and early intervention. This community education piece is critical in raising awareness. In Arizona, 38 people were impacted on September 7th.
NNEDV closes the report by highlighting the unmet requests for services. On just one day in 2022, victims made 285 requests that could not be provided due to insufficient resources. The overwhelming majority were requests for shelter (82%).
This is troubling and snapshots of a day in time do a lot to applaud the good efforts but also where the larger system is falling short in combating domestic violence in the United States.
