In the last month, there have been at least four deadly cases in Harris County where someone was shot to death after the victim tried to leave an alleged abusive relationship. City leaders and domestic violence advocates are sharing the alarming data and the resources available to help bring those numbers down.
Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones recently hosted a press conference to address the current state of domestic violence in the county. She said intimate partner homicides have doubled in the last three years.
“So let us turn our concern, our sadness, our anger, into action because I know we do not want Harris County leading the state of Texas in terms of domestic partner homicides and turnaway rates. Harris County, we can do better,” she said.
Domestic violence is still a critical problem one year after Harris County Commissioners Court approved $4.7 million in federal funds to go toward the Domestic Violence Assistance Fund, officials say.
The funding was approved by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds through 2024. It has since been administered by the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (HCDVCC) to provide immediate financial relief to survivors.
HPD Chief Troy Finner said that as of Sept. 30, the number of domestic violence cases in Houston has decreased by 17%. However, domestic violence-related murders still account for 18% of homicides and 9.8 of all reported crimes in the city.
Over the last 12 months, Finner said HPD’s Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) has responded to 1,084 domestic violence scenes and placed 404 adults into shelters.
According to the latest data provided by the Houston Area Women’s Center, 73% of domestic violence deaths in Houston from 2019 to 2022 involved guns. When guns are present in an abusive household, the risk of death increases by five times.
HAWC’s Deputy CEO Sonia Corrales said the organization averages 50,000 calls a year on their hotline, and more than half involve people who say they are in dangerous situations involving guns. More than 50% of their clients identify as Hispanic or Latino, but they emphasize that this is an issue that involves people from all walks of life.
The HCDVCC has distributed grants of up to $350,000 to 19 local organizations since March of this year. Amy Smith is the Senior Director of Operations and Communications at HCDVCC and said funding for the council has been used to start two initiatives to address both victims and harm-doers.
“This is an intervention to address the behavior of the harm-doer so that they can move forward in their current or future relationships and not use power and control, or violence,” she said.
Smith said they have also been using their funding to help victims with PTSD or depression through a mobile Neurofeedback program.
Wykesha Dixon is the Deputy Director of Bay Area Turning Point, one of the local organizations to receive a grant from the fund. She said the county still has a long way to go.
*Houston Public Media contributed to this report.
“In 2022, in Texas, we lost 216 people due to intimate partner violence. Of that 216, 51 came from Harris County,” she said.
Dixon said their organization has used the funding to directly help individuals who call their helpline during an immediate crisis.
The full list of organizations can be found on the HCDVCC website.