To help raise awareness and educate our communities, the RICADV compiles facts and statistics about domestic violence in Rhode Island.
View our current fact sheets below, and check back often for updates and additions.
To help raise awareness and educate our communities, the RICADV compiles facts and statistics about domestic violence in Rhode Island.
View our current fact sheets below, and check back often for updates and additions.
To view or download this fact sheet as a PDF, please click here.
The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence (RICADV) is an organization dedicated to ending domestic violence. Formed in 1979, the organization provides support to its member agencies, strives to create justice for victims, and provides leadership on the issue of domestic violence in Rhode Island.
The RICADV’s network of member agencies provide comprehensive emergency and support services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, and stalking. Full Member Agencies are organizations whose primary purpose is to end domestic violence and provide victim services. Affiliate Member Agencies are organizations whose work includes some programming to address or prevent domestic violence.
Full Member Agencies
Affiliate Member Agencies
In 2017, 8,758 individual victims of domestic violence received services from our member agencies, including:
The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence:
To view or download this fact sheet as a PDF, please click here.
The presence of a firearm in a domestic violence situation greatly increases the likelihood of homicide for victims and bystanders. In 2017, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed the Protect RI Families Act, which requires abusers convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors or subject to restraining orders to surrender their firearms.1
—Between 2006 and 2015, 54 people lost their lives to domestic violence homicides in Rhode Island. Though a similar number of homicide incidents involved stabbing as those that involved firearms, considerably more victims were killed with firearms (19 victims, or 42%) than by stabbing (14 victims, or 31%).2
—Rhode Island domestic violence police incident reports for the year 2015 show that 452 suspects were in possession of a firearm at the time of their arrest.3
—When a firearm is present in a domestic violence situation, the risk of homicide for women is five times greater than when a firearm is not present.4
—Women in the U.S. are 11 times more likely to be killed with a firearm than women in other developed countries.5
—Abusers having access to firearms is also dangerous for bystanders. Mass shootings are defined as incidents in which four or more people are killed (not including the shooter). An analysis of gun violence crimes from 2009-2016 found that 54% of mass shootings were related to domestic or family violence.6
1 R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-47-5(a-b), 8-8.1-3(a)(4), (c).
2 Domestic Violence Homicides in Rhode Island, 2006-2015. RICADV. February 2016.
3 Rhode Island Supreme Court Domestic Violence Training and Monitoring Unit. 2015.
4 Campbell, J. C., Webster, D., et al. (2003). Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health,93(7), 1089-1097.
5 Hemenway, D. and Richardson, E.G. (2011). Homicide, suicide, and unintentional firearm fatality: Comparing the United States with other high-income countries, 2003. Journal of Trauma, 70, 238-42.
6 Everytown for Gun Safety. (2017). Mass shootings in the United States: 2009-2016. Everytown Research. Retrieved from https://everytownresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Analysis_of_Mass_Shooting_033117.pdf.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
To view or download this fact sheet as a PDF, please click here.
Revenge Porn, also known as Nonconsensual Pornography (NCP), is defined as the distribution of sexually graphic images of individuals without their consent. It includes both images originally obtained without consent (e.g., hidden cameras, hacking phones or online accounts, or recording sexual assaults), as well as images consensually obtained within the context of an intimate relationship.1
The following 38 states, along with Washington, D.C., have adopted legislation to criminalize Revenge Porn/NCP. Rhode Island is not yet among them:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
A single act of posting explicit images can cause significant harm to a victim, impacting their mental health, relationships, and career. Images are often posted alongside personally-identifying information about the victim, which often leads to additional harassment and threats from third parties.
According to a study by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative:2
Revenge Porn/NCP should be against the law in Rhode Island, in the same way that domestic violence and other related forms of violence and abuse have already been criminalized.
Revenge Porn/NCP is frequently associated with the following crimes:3
1 FAQ. (2017). Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. Retrieved from https://www.cybercivilrights.org/faqs.
2 End Revenge Porn. (2014). Revenge Porn Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.cybercivilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/RPStatistics.pdf.
3 Related Laws. (2017). Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. Retrieved from https://www.cybercivilrights.org/related-laws.
To view or download this fact sheet as a PDF, please click here.
The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence (RICADV) published a 2016 report on domestic violence homicides in Rhode Island. This fact sheet highlights some of the key findings.
Between 2006 and 2015, 54 people lost their lives to domestic violence homicides.
The relationship of the victim to the perpetrator in the 54 total incidents were as follows:
About half of the perpetrators (20, or 49%) who committed intimate partner homicides had a previous domestic violence criminal history.
Though a similar number of homicide incidents involved stabbing as those that involved firearms, considerably more victims were killed with firearms (19 victims, or 42%) than by stabbing (14 victims, or 31%).
There is growing evidence that, in order to prevent domestic violence homicides, it is effective to screen domestic violence cases for homicide risk factors with validated assessment tools and then provide those cases assessed as “high risk” with increased levels of services and supervision.
Access the full report for more information on domestic violence homicide risk factors and policy recommendations. Visit www.ricadv.org/en/what-we-do/policy/domestic-violence-homicides-in-rhode-island-2006-2015.
To view or download this fact sheet as a PDF, please click here.
The network of member agencies of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence (RICADV) provides comprehensive emergency and support services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, and stalking.
Statewide Services
Educational Presentations