This is a Kentucky Lantern story republished under Creative Commons. See more from Kentucky Lantern here.
If you or someone you know has experienced domestic violence, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. You can also contact any of Kentucky’s 15 domestic violence programs.
Most perpetrators and victims of domestic violence in Kentucky are between the ages of 25 and 39, the annual Domestic Violence Data Report shows.
The 2024 report, released Monday, shows about 9% of domestic violence perpetrators are between the ages of 13 and 17.
Olivia Spradlin, a policy expert at ZeroV, (formerly known as the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence), said that while ZeroV staff are still examining the report, that 9% data point stood out.
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“Oftentimes we talk about children living in domestic violence and witnessing it and getting in between parents,” Spradlin said. “That number, I think, stood out to us, though, from an aspect of: these are children who are already committing intimate partner violence. That feels like an area to think more about, in terms of prevention and healthy dating.”
Kentucky also has high rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which are traumas a person experiences before turning 18. Research published in the National Library of Medicine in 2022 suggests a link between experiencing trauma and violent behavior.
“While risk factors can be linked to a greater likelihood of using violence, they are not necessarily direct causes,” Spradlin said. “The DV data report does not have information that can speak to those risk and protective factors; that is an area that would need more inquiry.”
The report also shows most domestic violence perpetrators are men and most victims are women. Of Kentuckians who sought a protective order, the report shows 69% received some type of order and 21% were denied.
The state began gathering this data in compliance with a 2022 Republican bill that directed agencies to annually gather and publish data on domestic and dating violence and abuse.
Data in it comes from the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet’s Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis Center, Kentucky State Police, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Administrative Office of the Courts.
At least 44.5% of women and 32.9% of men in Kentucky have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime, according to the report.
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“In Kentucky, while progress continues, challenges remain, particularly when analyzing data sourced from multiple systems designed for varying purposes,” the report says.
Those challenges include different organizations using different terminology and definitions and the lack of a “formal statewide surveillance system” to identify domestic violence deaths.
Because of that gap, “this report cannot provide a definitive count of Kentuckians who have died due to domestic or dating violence,” it says.
“Far too many Kentuckians experience domestic violence,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement. “That’s why it has been a top priority of my administration to make our commonwealth a safer place for all our families, and to make sure victim services are available across the commonwealth. Through working with partners, we are able to help Kentuckians in need while working together to bring justice.”
By the numbers
The report shows that in Kentucky last year:
- 32,899 electronic JC-3 forms (documenting alleged violence) were filed. This is a small increase from 2023, when 32,885 were filed.
- Those reports resulted in 7,964 arrests, an increase from 7,759 the year prior.
- Despite more arrests, some convictions were down.
- There were 4,088 convictions for 4th degree domestic violence assault, a decrease from 4,196 in 2023.
- There were 100 convictions for 4th degree domestic violence assault by offenders facing their third or offense in five years. That is a 9% decrease from 2023, when there were 110 such convictions.
- There were 82 convictions of 2nd Degree Domestic Violence Assault, down from 105 in 2023.
- There were 12 convictions for 1st Degree Domestic Violence Assault, the same as in 2023.
- There were 17,023 emergency protective orders (EPO) and temporary interpersonal protective orders (TIPO) served in 2024, down from 17,036 in 2023.
- There were 14,187 reports of alleged child abuse/neglect to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) that also included intimate partner violence.
- More people got services from ZeroV’s 15 programs — 15,386 in 2024 compared with 15,104 in 2023.
Policy opportunities
In 2024, a Northern Kentucky Republican unsuccessfully tried to pass a law that would have given victims of coercive control access to protective orders without first having to experience physical violence or face immediate threat of physical violence. Coercive control is a more nuanced type of abuse in which one person exerts control over another through isolation, threats, surveillance, loss of financial freedom and medical access and more.
The report acknowledges that “not all harmful or abusive behavior meets the threshold for criminal charges or protective orders.”
“Behaviors such as restricting access to privacy or sleep, micromanaging daily activities, threatening suicide or consistently undermining one’s parenting are profoundly damaging,” but “may not be recognized as domestic violence in a legal context.”
Spradlin said ZeroV “has supported adding coercive control to protective orders” but “we would remain very attentive to the implementation process for unintended consequences.”
She said accessing housing is also a “huge barrier” for survivors of domestic violence.
“Housing, right now, is a huge issue for survivors — and affordable housing and dignified housing and housing that folks want to live in,” she said. “If a survivor can’t find housing, they can’t financially support themselves when they leave.”
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This article appears in Jun 20 – Jul 3, 2025.