* WAND…
Each year, the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) analyzes domestic violence statistics throughout the state.
In 2024, 137 people died from domestic violence incidents. That is a 14% increase from 2023 and a 140% increase since 2022.
This jump is a big concern for ICADV and other organizations fighting to reduce the impact of domestic violence statewide.
“At any point about one in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime and we actually think it’s higher than that because a lot of people don’t report,” said ICADV CEO Carrie Boyd.
* From the report…
Out of the 137 total deaths resulting from domestic violence in Illinois in 2024, 114 were victims of homicide and 23 were perpetrators of domestic violence who died by suicide. Domestic violence homicide-suicides are a common occurrence. On average, more than once per day in the U.S., a tragedy occurs where a perpetrator kills an intimate partner and then dies by suicide. Of these incidents, 93% involved a gun, and 95% included women who were killed by their male partners.
Guns were used in the majority of deaths resulting from domestic violence in Illinois in 2024. Firearms were the means of death in 63% or 72 out of 114 domestic violence homicides. Moreover, firearms accounted for 68% or 94 out of 137 total deaths (including suicide) resulting from domestic violence in 2024.
We know that access to firearms greatly increases the risk of lethality in domestic violence situations. National data on the prevalence of intimate partner violence with a firearm is devastating. More than two-thirds of all intimate partner homicides in the U.S. are committed with a firearm, and 77% of these intimate partner homicide victims are female. Further, every month, an average of more than 70 women in the U.S. are shot and killed by an intimate partner.
Unfortunately, incidents of domestic violence homicides with firearms are on the rise. Nationally, from 2014 to 2023, there was a 22% increase in intimate partner homicides of women. This was driven by homicides with guns, which increased by 36%.
Illinois has experienced an increase in domestic violence homicides where a firearm was used. From 2021 to 2024 in Illinois, the percentage of the total domestic violence deaths where a firearm was used increased from 45% to 68%.
* ICADV is hoping Karina’s Law, which took effect on May 11, will cut down on domestic violence deaths involving firearms. The report…
Since the data in this report was collected, Illinois passed legislation strengthening the firearm legal remedies available for survivors under Karina’s Law, which went into effect on May 11, 2025. Karina’s Law was named in honor of Karina Gonzalez and her daughter Daniela Alvarez who were killed in Chicago as a result of domestic violence in 2023. This important legislation clarifies the firearm removal remedy available in orders of protection under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act (IDVA).
Under Karina’s Law, survivors may ask the judge to grant the firearm remedy in an order of protection case by checking box 14.5 on their petition for the order of protection. Then, survivors may ask the judge for a surrender order, where the abuser is required to surrender their firearms to law enforcement at the time of service of the emergency order of protection. Survivors may alternatively ask the judge to issue a search warrant, where law enforcement can enter a property to search for and seize a firearm. Karina’s Law also closes a loophole that existed in previous law by only allowing transfer of firearms after the firearms have been removed or surrendered to law enforcement or under certain conditions.
ICADV will closely follow how the firearm legal remedies available under Karina’s Law may impact domestic violence homicides in Illinois moving forward.
* Related…
* WGLT | Contacts to statewide domestic violence hotline rose 26% last year — with sharpest increase in Central Illinois: A new report says contacts to the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline rose 26% compared to 2023, with the greatest change registered in Central Illinois. According to data compiled by the statewide domestic violence advocacy group The Network, the hotline received 16 contacts [via phone, text or chat] from Logan County, up 81% from 2023. Livingston County contacts increased from 23 to 30 [77%]. And there were two contacts from Piatt County, compared with none the previous year.
* ProPublica | Amid Increasing Domestic Violence, Illinois Struggles to Review Fatalities: The first reviews began only late last year, and key deadlines have been missed. An initial report of statewide policy recommendations based on reviews by the panels was expected to be delivered to lawmakers in April 2024. But that has yet to happen. The most glaring absence from the program is Cook County, which is home to Chicago and accounts for nearly 40% of the state’s population. Discussions between organizers of the initiative and agencies that could take charge of a local review panel in the county have failed to yield a commitment.
- TheInvisibleMan - Friday, Nov 7, 25 @ 11:44 am:
One of the worst cases could have been prevented if our county States Attorney wasn’t fighting the SAFE-T act with a lawsuit, delaying its eventual implementation. If the law had gone into effect when it was planned, the aspects of the SAFE-T act designed to protect domestic abusers would have been in effect at the time. This woman could have been saved.
https://patch.com/illinois/joliet/im-dead-joliet-woman-reported-previous-attacks-accused-shooter
It was Jim Glasgow in Will County who delayed the implementation of the SAFE-T act. This should have been more than enough to end his political career on the spot. The fact that it hasn’t shows how unseriously domestic violence is taken in many areas. Not just by the officials in charge, but by the entire population of an area.
Even worse, since its implementation the officials in this area seem to be throwing a tantrum by often not applying the law in domestic abuse cases. There have been cases where there wasn’t even a petition to detain presented. Other cases of domestic abuse which clearly meet the standards for detention are instead released by the judge. One judge in particular has become rather infamous this year for those types of decisions. A judge who was not elected by the population of the area, but instead elected by 16 fellow judges unanimously - as a write-in candidate.
Our systems are not broken. Intead, there are a lot of broken people in positions within that system which give the incorrect appearance it is the system which is broken.
- Amalia - Friday, Nov 7, 25 @ 11:58 am:
very sobering report. nearly 1/3 of the counties in Illinois had one of these deaths—there’s a list by county. I’d actually like to see the counties where such a tragedy happen shaded in on a map. it’s powerful to think of how much of our state has this issue.