Domestic violence noted as ‘most prevalent violent crime in Ohio’ as state boosts funding

With data showing domestic violence as the “most prevalent violent crime in Ohio,” state officials recently announced boosts to domestic violence programs, including survivor services and law enforcement training.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Office of Criminal Justice Services found that more than half of all violent crime arrests in Ohio had a domestic violence charge as part of the case, with 70% of the arrests conducted on repeat offenders.

The researchers studied half a century of criminal history data in the state, including about 2 million violent crime arrests from 1974 to 2023, according to a release about the research.

The study also found that from 2014 to 2023, 54% of violent crime arrests involved domestic violence. That statistic went up to 56% in the last five years.

“Anecdotally, we suspected that domestic violence was among the most frequent violent crimes in the state, and this data confirms it,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement.

“The data also reinforces the fact that Ohio must continue to be innovative in its work to protect both domestic violence survivors and the law enforcement officers who respond to calls for help.”

Ohio had its second highest amount of deaths from domestic violence-related incidents in 2025, according to data released this month from the Ohio Domestic Violence Network. The report showed 134 deaths in 101 cases.

The year before was the highest amount of deaths since the network began collecting fatality statistics 11 years ago. In 2024, Ohio had 157 deaths in 108 cases. Over the last two years of data, the network found that in 49% of cases, the victim was attempting to leave the situation.

“These homicides are not random,” said Maria York, the network’s director of policy and communications, when the report was announced. “They are the final act of control.”

As part of a recent announcement of funding set aside for “specific domestic-violence-related projects,” the governor’s office said an additional $1 million will be directed toward the state’s domestic violence shelters recognized by the Office of Criminal Justice Services.

The 55 shelters across the state will each receive a one-time grant of $18,000 for “immediate shelter and meeting the critical needs of family violence victims and their dependents,” according to the governor’s office.

The Office of Criminal Justice Services announced another $4 million in “federal emergency shelter and supportive services grants for domestic violence victims and their dependents,” in an Oct. 27 press release.

The funding is from the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Formula Grant to States and Territories, administered through the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

The state office said 64 projects in 46 counties will be funded for one year, from July 2026 through June 2027.

The grant amounts ranged from $115,000 going to Stark County’s Domestic Violence Project, Inc., to $30,000 awards for Greene County’s Violence Free Futures, Geauga County’s Womensafe, and Summit County’s Asian Services in Action, Inc.

Law enforcement will also be receiving state funding meant for programs related to domestic violence, like one to provide training on “lethality assessments,” which are used to decide how much a survivor risks future domestic violence based on the situation to which law enforcement are responding.

The funding announced by the governor’s office is also set to help establish “co-responder partnership models.”

Those models would partner victim services advocates with law enforcement “to help ensure that trauma-informed support is immediately available on-scene for survivors after law enforcement responds to a domestic violence incident,” according to the governor’s office.

A separate grant is also set aside to fund “ballistic shields,” which would be used by law enforcement when responding to “high-risk calls like domestic violence incidents.”

In addition, DeWine tasked the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board to develop standards for responses to domestic violence, and investigations of it, using the Ohio Domestic Violence Network’s handbook for law enforcement working with domestic violence survivors.

The network praised the new grant funding and the work to set law enforcement standards.

“We are especially pleased to work with the Ohio Collaborative to provide law enforcement with more guidance about responding to domestic violence calls, which can be the most dangerous calls police get,” said ODVN’s senior director for survivor services, Alicia Williamson, in a statement.

The network worked with the Office of Criminal Justice Services on a training initiative to offer seven regional, in-person trainings, and seven virtual trainings for law enforcement in Ohio.

According to a press release from ODVN, topics in the trainings will include trauma-informed investigations, lethality assessments, strangulation and brain injuries, protection order enforcement, and victims’ rights.

The first of the trainings is scheduled for Nov. 18 in Columbus.