{"id":281,"date":"2016-04-25T14:16:09","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T14:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/medical-examiner\/?page_id=281"},"modified":"2025-07-14T15:03:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T15:03:26","slug":"domestic-violence-fatality-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/medical-examiner\/division-of-death-prevention\/domestic-violence-fatality-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Domestic Violence Fatality Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-285 size-full\" title=\"Domestic violence support purple ribbon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/04\/ribbonart.jpg\" alt=\"ribbonart\" width=\"220\" height=\"204\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/medical-examiner\/division-of-death-prevention\/domestic-violence-fatality-review\/\">Introduction<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/medical-examiner\/division-of-death-prevention\/domestic-violence-fatality-review\/frequently-asked-questions\/\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/a> |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/medical-examiner\/virginias-violence-fatality-review-teams\/\">Virginia Teams<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/medical-examiner\/division-of-death-prevention\/domestic-violence-fatality-review\/resources\/\">Resources <\/a>|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/medical-examiner\/fatality-review-surveillance-programs-reports\/domestic-violence-fatality-review\/newsletters\/\">Newsletters <\/a>| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/medical-examiner\/division-of-death-prevention\/domestic-violence-fatality-review\/contact-us\/\">Contact Us<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Family and intimate partner violence (also referred to as domestic violence) accounts for one-third of all homicides in Virginia each year. To better understand and prevent these tragic deaths, communities across Virginia, and across the country, have joined the growing fatality review effort.<\/p>\n<div class=\"Content_Secondary\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-284 size-full\" title=\"5 at meeting table, 2 lamps\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/04\/5-at-desk-2-lamps.jpg\" alt=\"5 at desk-2 lamps\" width=\"200\" height=\"132\" \/>In 1999, the Virginia General Assembly enacted legislation authorizing family and intimate partner fatality review (hereafter referred to as domestic violence fatality review). The <em><a href=\"http:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/title32.1\/chapter8\/section32.1-283.3\/\">Code of Virginia \u00a732.1-283.3<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>provides for the establishment of local and regional domestic violence fatality review teams (DVFRTs). It provides important statutory confidentiality protection, and directs the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to provide technical assistance and training.<\/p>\n<p>The Commonwealth currently has twenty <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/07\/local-and-regional-DVFRTs.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">local and regional DVFRTs<\/a><\/em>. Teams are multidisciplinary, and through stakeholder participation, they review homicides, suicides, and homicide-suicide cases related to domestic violence.\u00a0 Additionally, teams assess their data to generate findings and recommended changes to existing policies and procedures as protective measures to prevent future domestic violence fatalities.\u00a0 Because the fatality review process is confidential, it provides team members with an excellent opportunity for honest and constructive discussion and analysis. Case review enhances collaboration among domestic violence stakeholders and improves the quality and coordination of community services, and supports healthy communities.<\/p>\n<p>Reports published by Virginia\u2019s teams provide critical information on the victims and perpetrators in fatal homicide events, as well as the lethality factors that shape these tragedies. The work of these teams is having a positive impact at the local level and also contributes to state and national domestic violence prevention efforts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"Clearing_Div_Clear\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-283 size-full\" title=\"virginia flag-globe\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/04\/virginia-flag-globe.jpg\" alt=\"virginia flag-globe\" width=\"115\" height=\"161\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction\u00a0|\u00a0Frequently Asked Questions |\u00a0Virginia Teams\u00a0|\u00a0Resources |\u00a0Newsletters | Contact Us Family and intimate partner violence (also referred to as domestic violence) accounts for one-third of all homicides in Virginia each year. To better understand and prevent these tragic deaths, communities across Virginia, and across the country, have joined the growing fatality review effort. In 1999, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":425,"featured_media":0,"parent":46,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Domestic Violence Fatality Review - Medical Examiner<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/medical-examiner\/division-of-death-prevention\/domestic-violence-fatality-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Domestic Violence Fatality Review - Medical Examiner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Introduction\u00a0|\u00a0Frequently Asked Questions |\u00a0Virginia Teams\u00a0|\u00a0Resources |\u00a0Newsletters | Contact Us Family and intimate partner violence (also referred to as domestic violence) accounts for one-third of all homicides in Virginia each year. To better understand and prevent these tragic deaths, communities across Virginia, and across the country, have joined the growing fatality review effort. 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