Intimate partner violence (IPV) continues to impact the health of millions of women in the United States. On average, 1.3 million nonfatal IPV victimizations occur annually in the U.S., and over three-fourths of these incidences involve a female victim (Reaves, 2017). In the U.S., homicide is a leading cause of death among women below the age of 45 years (Logan et al., 2011), and prior research has found that roughly half of these murders are inflicted by an intimate partner (Fridel & Fox, 2019; Jack et al., 2018).

Approximately 13.5% of all homicides worldwide are committed by a current or former intimate partner (Stöckl et al., 2013). When examining gender differences in global IPH victimization, data reports that approximately 38.6% of homicides committed against women and 6.3% of homicides committed against men are committed by an intimate partner (Stöckl et al., 2013).

Nearly 60% of women in the United States experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime, defined as psychological, physical, and/or sexual abuse between romantic partners (Black, Sussman, & Unger, 2010). Additionally, over 15 million U.S. children live in homes characterized by at least one incident of IPV in the past year (McDonald, Jouriles, Ramisetty-Mikler, Caetano, & Green, 2006). IPV has been linked to poor physical health outcomes and high rates of psychological distress (Lagdon, Armour, & Stringer, 2014).