North Carolina has never publically released domestic violence statistics. On March 26, 2209, the attorney general made them public. The numbers released are staggering.

According to the attorney general office, there were 131 people murdered during a domestic violence incident. Of those killed, 99 were women, 32 were male, and most of the offenders were male (103 male offenders and 25 female offenders). There is also a new law passed in 2007 in North Carolina that requires law enforcement agencies to report incidents of domestic violence related murders to the state bureau of investigations every year. These numbers may increase because not all agencies have turned in their statistics.

The attorney general Roy Cooper is encouraging people to in an abusive situation to obtain protection orders. Only 8 out of 131 had a protection order against their murderer. And only 3 of the 8 were current. Even though protection orders are not fool proof, it is good to have one because it will lower the chance of repeat abuse.

Cooper thinks a lot of the instance of domestic violence and domestic violence related murders are related to the current economic situation.

If you live in North Carolina and need more information about domestic violence, the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence is a great starting point to find information for your state. Even if you aren’t in North Carolina, it is a good website full of information for anyone concerned about domestic violence. An Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence Aid and Resource Collection site for North Carolina has a county by county listing of resources for the state. And of course the Attorney General Roy Cooper’s Website has information regarding laws and legislation about domestic violence in the state.