TOPEKA — Kansas recorded more domestic violence related homicides in 2017 than it had in more than two decades.
A Kansas Bureau of Investigation report shows the 38 domestic violence deaths in 2017 was twice as many as 2016.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the agency says 20 of the deaths were female and 18 were male. Also, 33 of the suspects were male while five were female. And firearms were used in 26 of 38 cases.
KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood says 2017 was the second highest number of domestic violence-related deaths since records began in 1993, with 41 deaths.
Erin Reazin, a victim services coordinator for Topeka’s YMCA, says society needs to changes the culture from telling females they are responsible for reducing their risk to finding only the perpetrator at fault.
