The Societal Cost of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): A Study of Potential Years of Life Lost Due to IPV in 16 States from 2006-2015

Background: Too often, intimate partner violence (IPV) results in deaths of one or both intimate partners as well as corollary victims (e.g., loved ones, bystanders, law enforcement officers who intervene). This study is the first to consider potential years of life lost (PYLL) due to IPV, taking sex and racial/ethnic group differences into account. PYLL estimates the difference between the age at which a person dies and their life expectancy, thereby serving as a proxy measure for lost societal potential, in this case due to IPV. Such analyses help highlight communities with the greatest need for IPV prevention efforts and have implications for the development of targeted and effective IPV prevention strategies.

Methods: We used 2006-2015 National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) data from 16 states to estimate PYLL among intimate partners and corollary victims (n=7,916 deaths; 6,282 partners and 1,634 corollary victims) by victims’ sex, race/ethnicity, and race/ethnicity for male and female victims. Hierarchical linear models examined whether estimates of PYLL per death differed by victims’ sex and race/ethnicity. Models accounted for clustering within states and were adjusted for victim sex, victim race/ethnicity, victim sex*race/ethnicity, and death calendar year.

Results: Approximately 58% of intimate partner victims were female, and 76% of corollary victims were male. Overall, victims lost an estimated 348,878 potential years of societal contribution. Findings suggested many significant differences in PYLL per IPV-related death among sex, racial/ethnic, and sex/race groups. Among partner victims, White men had the lowest average PYLL per death (33.8). Comparatively, other groups of partner victims died 6.7 (male Asian/Pacific Islanders) to 16.2 (Latinas) years younger per death, thus losing more potential years of societal contribution per death. Among corollary victims, groups died 4.2 (Black males) to 13.9 (male Asian/Pacific Islanders) years younger per death compared to White male victims.

Conclusions: Overall, the study’s findings show that victims of IPV-related deaths are diverse and include people with various identities and from various backgrounds. Further, IPV-related deaths have devastating societal consequences in terms of loss of life. Notably, IPV-related deaths of women and people of color, particularly women of color among partner victims and men of color among corollary victims, typically occur at younger ages than IPV-related deaths of White people. Further, corollary victims are a very diverse group comprised of a devastatingly high percentage of children. As a complement to available data on IPV-related death incidence and prevalence, our findings help to highlight target populations with serious need for IPV prevention and lethality assessments. Implications of this research for social work research and practice will be discussed specific to the development of effective IPV prevention strategies.