Intimate Partner Homicide

Why does domestic violence turn to murder? Can we measure the risk of death for a battered woman? Which women in abusive relationships are most likely to be killed?

One helpful tool for finding answers to these questions is called the Danger Assessment. The series of 15 questions on the Danger Assessment is designed to measure a woman’s risk in an abusive relationship. (See figure 1.)

Figure 1: The Danger Assessment Tool

The Danger Assessment Tool was developed in 1985 and revised in 1988 after reliability and validity studies were done. Completing the Danger Assessment can help a woman evaluate the degree of danger she faces and consider what she should do next. Practitioners are reminded that the Danger Assessment is meant to be used with a calendar to enhance the accuracy of the battered woman’s recall of events.

The Danger Assessment can be printed from: The Danger Assessment Tool which also gives directions regarding permission for use.