Firearms & Intimate Partner Violence: A Deadly Combination

The impact of gun violence in America is well-documented as 23,000 people in the U.S. were killed by a firearm in 2021, and firearms are now considered the leading cause of death for our nation’s youth. For women, the statistics are even more dire, as the presence of a gun in her home makes her 3-times more likely to be murdered. And if her abusive partner has a firearm, femicide risk increases 1,000%. More than just statistics, the lives and futures of women are increasingly at risk from the American obsession with guns coupled with its pervasive misogynistic culture.

Alicia Nichols, Deputy Director of the National Domestic Violence and Firearms Resource Center of the Battered Women’s Justice Project, joins the conversation to explore the link between firearms and lethality risk in intimate partner violence relationships, as well as the myriad responses to gun violence that will improve safety for women and keep guns out of the hands of violent offenders.