Speakers
Debbie Mukamal
Parallel Workshops
This session will share findings from a groundbreaking study examining how people experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) are criminalized for actions they took to survive abuse. Using a sample of 649 cisgender women and transgender people incarcerated for murder and manslaughter at two California prisons, this study quantified the prevalence of IPV and the potential lethality of the abuse; described the nature of the relationship between the survivor-defendant and the decedent as it relates to the circumstances of the offense; and identified the extent to which the criminal legal system accounts for IPV. Importantly, this study is the first time both the Composite Abuse Scale and the Danger Assessment, validated instruments to assess intimate partner violence and intimate partner homicide respectively, were used with an incarcerated population. Findings revealed nearly three out of four respondents were abused by an intimate partner the year before their offense. Additionally, about two-thirds of those being abused were at extreme risk of being killed by their intimate partner. Disturbingly, 59.9% reported ever being strangled (“choked”) by their partner. Of those who reported ever being strangled, 78.1% were choked more than once or had passed out, blacked out, or felt dizzy, suggesting a probable traumatic brain injury. No statistically significant differences existed in intimate partner homicide risk by decedent category, suggesting no matter who was killed, respondents were in potentially lethal abusive relationships. This finding underscores that IPV is a form of violence with diffuse and broad consequences beyond the relationship.
