Harris County led the state in the number of domestic violence homicides, followed by Bexar, Dallas, and Tarrant counties. (Elena/Adobe Stock)
There were 161 domestic violence deaths in Texas last year, according to the Honoring Texas Victims report by the Texas Council on Family Violence.
“We use it to formulate a better strategy of helping those programs that work with family violence victims,” said Martinez. “How can we build safety strategies around getting more protection, more legislative measures – prevention as well?”
Texas law prevents anyone convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor from having a gun for five years following their release from incarceration, but 114 victims were killed by an abuser with a firearm.
Those killed in Texas last year ranged in age from 17 to 70. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Martinez said the council on family violence is expanding its I’m Ok. Are You Ok? campaign across the state to help more survivors get to safety.
“It doesn’t discriminate against any age,” said Martinez. “But we can definitely say we need to do more prevention work around working with teenagers. Or work with the elderly community, because at 70 years old you should be planning your retirement and living at home in a safe environment.”
The campaign uses billboards across the state with a URL that directs survivors to domestic violence programs in their specific area. The information is also being shared on social media, on stickers inside bathrooms, and in other public spaces.
Martinez said 75% of those killed had attempted to get help from law enforcement, family, and friends.
“I think the message should always be that survivors are not alone,” said Martinez. “That there’s a lot of people working to help them leave abusive relationships, but we also need to understand that leaving an abusive relationship does not equal safety. So, we need to have safety plans for survivors.”
Related: Op-Ed: To Texas, From a Fellow Survivor: We See You. We’re With You
