Domestic Violence Counts: Frequently Asked Questions for Domestic Violence Programs and Advocates

Please click here to read the latest Domestic Violence Counts Report.

How can we use the data?

The annual Domestic Violence Counts Report provides a safe, noninvasive snapshot of the important work you do every day. Keeping survivors’ confidentiality and safety at the forefront, this report allows you to share your incredible, lifesaving work with community members, funders, the media, and others.

Can we get data for just our organization or region?

For confidentiality and safety reasons, we only provide reports at the state, territorial, and national levels. We suggest that you use the state or territory summary to supplement other reports or information you have that are specific to your community.

When is the next Domestic Violence Counts survey day?

The Domestic Violence Counts survey day takes place in September each year. To join our email listserv, please email us your contact information at DVCounts@NNEDV.org.

Can our organization be a part of this count?

If you are a primary-purpose domestic violence program, we would love to have you participate. To join us next year, please email us your contact information at DVCounts@NNEDV.org.

Our state or territory summary has a very low participation rate. Can I still use it?

Yes. Some programs cannot participate in each year’s Domestic Violence Counts Survey because of extenuating circumstances. But the report still shows the amazing work that domestic violence programs did in your state or territory, despite not everyone participating. We recommend that you use your state or territory summary and the national report as supplemental data to other reports and information you have specific to your community. If you are a primary-purpose domestic violence program, we also encourage you to participate in the next Domestic Violence Counts survey day!

We are not a primary-purpose domestic violence program, but we want to be a part of this count.

The annual Domestic Violence Counts is not a prevalence or incident count, nor does it capture all the places where a survivor of domestic violence may seek services. We understand that supporting survivors of domestic violence often requires a community effort, from primary-purpose domestic violence agencies to law enforcement to the courts and more. Your important work is reflected in the survey responses we receive, even if your organization cannot directly provide data.

Furthermore, the purpose of Domestic Violence Counts is to capture an unduplicated count of victims who seek services from primary-purpose domestic violence programs. Because the basis of our count is an unduplicated count, we cannot count other agencies that provide essential services for victims of domestic violence, since that may result in a duplicated count. For example, a victim may go to a primary-purpose domestic violence program for services and also to the police station and the hospital on the same day. To maintain a victim’s privacy, we would have to count this as “three” victims, which is an incorrect inflation of our data; however, we would not be able to de-duplicate the data without violating a victim’s privacy.

I still have questions. Who can I contact?

Please contact the Domestic Violence Counts team at DVCounts@NNEDV.org.