ZeroV Responds to the Release of Second Annual Domestic Violence Data Report

FRANKFORT, KY, UNITED STATES, July 1, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- ZeroV is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Kentucky’s Criminal Justice and Statistical Analysis Center and other partner agencies to release the state’s second annual Domestic Violence Data Report on July 1. This report compiles domestic violence-related data from several state agencies, including Kentucky State Police, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and ZeroV, from the calendar year 2023.

ZeroV’s CEO Angela Yannelli says she is eager to have more data to help illustrate the crisis Kentucky is facing.

"Any level of violence greater than zero is a concern that deserves the attention of our Commonwealth," says Yannelli. “This year’s report is an important part of a series of reports that will help develop strategies to end it.”

Over the next few months, ZeroV will release its best practices and policy recommendations to support ongoing data collection efforts. ZeroV’s complete analysis will be available this fall, and its list of findings will be published on November 1. The organization released its first best practices and recommendations in November 2023.

“Our goal for the next few years is to increase the clarity, accuracy, and precision of the data, which includes making it easier for different agencies to collaborate around data collection and sharing,” says Olivia Spradlin, Policy Lead of ZeroV. “We are already encouraged by the investment made since last year’s inaugural report to help improve this data.”

Agencies contributing to the report have updated the JC-3 form used by law enforcement to better track intimate partner violence (IPV), child abuse, and abuse of vulnerable adults.

"We owe the people represented in this report the due diligence of making sure we know what’s working, what we should duplicate, where our system could serve them better, and what we should update,” says Spradlin. “The data in this report are not simply numbers; they represent real people’s lives impacted by violence.”

ZeroV sees this report as one piece of a larger coordinated response to intimate partner violence in Kentucky.

“Law enforcement and justice system statistics, while important, only tell us part of the story around intimate partner violence,” says Yannelli, noting that many survivors do not contact law enforcement for myriad reasons, including fear of reprisal, eviction, arrest, losing custody of their children, and more.

“We also know that our current systems do not track coercive tactics which are used by abusive partners to make survivors reliant on them for survival,” Yannelli says. This includes financial abuse, which can result in survivors staying in their relationship for up to two years longer than they would like to avoid poverty and homelessness for themselves and their children.

“To address this, we need a strong support system that makes sure everyone can access food, healthcare, and housing, which would make it easier for survivors to get away from abusive relationships,” emphasizes Yannelli. “And finally, we need to abolish the cultural norms that allow for and perpetuate IPV to prevent it from happening in the first place.”

Yannelli emphasizes the important role communities play in preventing IPV and invites the public to join the movement for zero violence by participating in prevention efforts.

“Learning about your local shelter is a small yet powerful step to raising awareness about IPV,” says Yannelli. "This data project has shown that when we collaborate, we can make a difference in the lives and safety of people in Kentucky."

Kentuckians experiencing intimate partner violence can find a list of ZeroV’s member shelter programs and their hotlines at zerov.org/shelter_programs. People nationwide can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by phone at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text at 88788, or chat at thehotline.org. 

Angela Conway
ZeroV
+1 502-209-5382
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