Every Silent Witness figure stands for a real person whose life was taken by a current or former intimate partner. These pages count them.
The numbers today
In 2023, the most recent year of public data, 1,269 women and 350 men, age 18 and older, were killed by a current or former spouse or dating partner in the states that report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The true number is higher, because California, Florida and Texas reported only some of their counties. A woman was about three and a half times as likely as a man to be killed by a partner.
- About 1 in 5 homicide victims in the United States is killed by an intimate partner. (CDC)
- Over half of female homicide victims are killed by a current or former male intimate partner. (CDC)
- More than 1 in 3 women and more than 1 in 6 men have experienced sexual violence, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner. (CDC)
- In an older CDC study (18 states, 2003-2014), firearms were used in more than half of all homicides of women, and women age 18-29 were the largest group of victims.
Silent Witness exhibits may honor everyone killed in family violence, including children and people killed by a parent or other relative. These statistics count only people 18 and older killed by a current or former partner.
Then and now
When Silent Witness began in 1990, about 1,500 women a year were killed by an intimate partner (1,493 that year, U.S. Department of Justice). In 1976 the count was 1,596 women and 1,348 men. By 2004 the numbers had fallen to 1,159 women and 385 men. The drop for men was far larger than the drop for women.
Explore the statistics
- 2023 statistics by state – the newest numbers, with a map
- State by state, 2018-2023 – women and total killed in each state, each year
- Year by year, 1976-2023 – how the numbers have changed
- State maps, 1998-2000 – the original Silent Witness maps
- Where the numbers come from – our sources and how the CDC system grew
If you need help
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE), or text START to 88788, or chat at thehotline.org. In an emergency, call 911.
Sources
- CDC, National Violent Death Reporting System, through WISQARS (wisqars.cdc.gov), data year 2023, retrieved October 2026.
- CDC, About Intimate Partner Violence (updated August 19, 2026).
- Petrosky E. et al., Racial and Ethnic Differences in Homicides of Adult Women and the Role of Intimate Partner Violence – United States, 2003-2014, CDC MMWR, 2017.
- U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, intimate homicide victims 1976-2004, as published on the Silent Witness website.
Compiled by Silent Witness volunteers with help from Claude (AI). Every number was checked against the original source files.