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Abstract: 

In the United States, homicide is the second leading cause of death among children aged 1 to 17 years. The majority of these deaths (75%) are due to firearm injuries. Generally, when we think of children dying from firearms, we think of child victims of school mass shootings. Yet, according to a recent landmark study published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics, a surprising number of these deaths take place in the setting of intimate partner violence (IPV). This article reviews and analyzes the conclusion contained in the study, which was conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Rebecca F. Wilson at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It analyzed child homicides during an almost 20-year period (from 2003 and 2020) based on the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), a state-based surveillance system that captures data on violent deaths in all states, and on data from multiple data sources (death certificates, and law enforcement and coroner/medical examiner reports).

Keywords: Child Homicides; IPV-related Gun Deaths

Affiliations:  1: Editor, Domestic Violence Report.