Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

28 Jill Laurie Goodman
women whose abusers have threatened to kill them are fifteen times more
likely to meet their death at their abusers’ hands. 2 Other kinds of violence also
translate into greater risks of murder. Forced sex and abuse during pregnancy
both correlate with lethal attacks. 3 So do incidents of choking; 4 indeed, 25% of
women killed by their abusers are choked or strangled to death. 5 Frequent and
recent violence, even if not particularly severe, also correlates with greater
chances of murder. 6
As domestic violence victim advocates well know, violence often escalates
when a woman separates from her abuser. The violence is more frequent and more
dangerous. It also becomes more lethal. 7 Leaving or trying to leave is particularly
dangerous for women whose abusers are controlling or extremely jealous. 8
Besides the nature of the violence in the relationship, some demographic
and socioeconomic factors correlate to higher risks of murder. When abusers are
unemployed and when they live with a child who is not their biological child
but rather a stepchild, chances of femicide are heightened. 9 Habitual drug use
and drinking to excess correlate with increased risks. 10
All of these correlations are only red flags. Their absence is no assurance of
safety — one fifth of the abused women who are murdered by intimate partners
were never assaulted by their abuser before their deaths. 11 By the same token,
the presence of these factors does not predict with certainty death or further
serious physical injury at the hands of an abuser.
Another source of information — and maybe your best — is your client.
You can ask her if she feels she needs to find a new place to live or if she is
worried about telling her abuser she wants to leave. If she is no longer living
with him, you can ask her if she would feel better if he didn’t know how to find
her or if she needs to keep her address and social security number confidential.
You can ask her whether she would rather avoid seeing her abuser in a courtroom
or during dropping off and picking up children for visitation. And you can ask
her, straight out, if she feels safe.
Moving Towards Safety
Experts can help with safety planning. If you are new to representing
victims of domestic violence or not well-versed in techniques for counseling
abused women, you might want to refer your client to a domestic violence
agency or to someone with expertise in safety planning. Calling on experts,