Domestic violence is a public health crisis, not a private matter. According to the CDC, nearly 4,000 women die each year at the hands of intimate partners, and Black women — only 13% of the population — account for nearly 30% of these deaths.
Yet our systems repeatedly fail survivors. Lenient plea bargains, expunged convictions, and courts focused on enforcement rather than safety leave women vulnerable. I know this personally: I pressed charges against an abuser with prior convictions and watched him walk away with a $300 fine, while prior convictions were erased. If he escalated violence later, prosecutors could not reference past behavior.
Family courts compound the injustice. Women leaving abusive partners, even with children, are often penalized by the system. The Friend of the Court rarely investigates the history of abuse; they prioritize money metrics — payments, enforcement, fines — over safety. Mothers who spend resources on children and survival are scrutinized for housing or credit, while abusers retain wealth, lawyers, and freedom. Courts, historically and today, are often not allies.
History underscores this danger: women who attempted to leave powerful men were institutionalized or disappeared, and abuse was normalized across generations. My own family experience mirrors this pattern: my grandmother was beaten, my mother was beaten, I was beaten, and my niece was murdered by her significant other on her birthday in 2019. Domestic violence is intergenerational, systemic, and lethal.
A Domestic Violence Registry could prevent fatalities. Like a sex offender registry, it would provide verified, accessible information about convicted domestic abusers. Potential partners, landlords, employers, and law enforcement could make informed decisions, reducing risk before tragedy occurs. Some states, like Tennessee, have already piloted this approach with promising results.
This registry must be structured responsibly:
Focus on severe or repeated offenses that demonstrate risk.
Tiered access and review periods, allowing for rehabilitation while maintaining survivor protection.
Transparent documentation of patterns, restraining order violations, and prior convictions.
Domestic violence is not a private matter — it is a structural crisis, particularly for Black women, whose victimization is disproportionately fatal and often ignored. A registry is preventive, not punitive. Government agencies must act, enforcing protections for survivors and supporting coerced debt forgiveness when domestic violence is present. Prevention must come before death. Transparency before tragedy. Accountability before another life is lost. Let’s hold our representatives responsible to prevent these occurrences instead of filling prisons with reactive justice….proactive justice is true representation!