By Kirsten Fiscus and Craig Shoup | Nashville Tennessean
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series on domestic violence. Other stories in this series focus on the impact of COVID-19, the judicial system and legal process, issues related to child abuse and the psychology of abusers. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
Lying on the bathroom floor of her home, the woman said she clearly remembered thinking she was going to die after suffering hours of physical abuse at the hands of a loved one.
“I knew no one was looking (for me), no one was expecting me that day anywhere,” she said. “I knew no one would find me right away. And that’s how my family is going to find me. They would have found me dead, and that would have been their last image of me.”
The Tennessean is not naming the woman for her safety, as the criminal case against the suspect in her case is continuing.
Thousands of women and men across Tennessee are or will be victims of domestic violence by the end of the year. About 39.6% of women in Tennessee and 36.8% of men will experience some form of domestic violence in their lifetimes, according to statistics kept by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
That gives Tennessee the 15th highest rate for women and the third highest for men in the country.
The woman spent hours trapped inside a Middle Tennessee home with her boyfriend, she said, after she tried to break off the relationship earlier this year. She’d had enough of his anger, his gaslighting and his emotional abuse.
He became enraged, threw household items and put his hands around her neck and squeezed well over a dozen times, according to arrest affidavits from law enforcement. He held her at gunpoint, telling her he was going to kill himself, then telling her he was going to kill them both, she said.
Feeling her body shut down, she believed death was inevitable. But then an opportunity presented itself, and she recalled how she forced her bruised body to run. She found a phone, called 911 and filed a police report and protection order against the man she once loved.
She survived, and he’s now sitting in jail, facing charges of aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault and aggravated assault.
Domestic violence in Tennessee
Reported cases of domestic violence in Tennessee from 2002-2022
While the number of reported incidents is on a steady decline, that likely means cases are being underreported, experts say.
Reported cases of domestic violence in Tennessee from 2002-2022
While the number of reported incidents is on a steady decline, that likely means cases are being underreported, experts say.
There were 61,839 allegations of domestic violence reported by Tennesseans to law enforcement agencies across the state last year, for an average of about 169 reports a day. Some of these reports contain multiple allegations of crimes committed against a single victim.
The total continues a steady downward trend over the last 20 years, according to data compiled by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Of the allegations reported last year, about 53% were cleared by arrest or exception, as in when a suspect dies or prosecution is declined.
While the total number of reports decreased, that does not necessarily mean it’s happening less frequently, just that “many other incidents went unreported,” according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
The three largest counties in Tennessee unsurprisingly reported the most allegations in 2022. Shelby County outpaced every other Tennessee county with 16,331 reports. By comparison, Davidson County had 9,361 reports, while Knox County had 4,230 reports.
Shelby County also had the lowest clearance rate in the state at 27%.
Counties with the highest rate of domestic violence reports per 1,000 residents:
- Shelby County, 17.57.
- Morgan County, 14.59.
- Davidson County, 13.30.
- Dyer County, 12.69.
- Hamblen County, 12.28.
- Maury County, 11.76.
- Rutherford County, 11.53.
- Monroe County, 9.97.
- Bradley County, 9.96.
- Montgomery County, 9.89.