Domestic violence, also referred to as intimate partner violence, is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another, per the Department of Justice. The Texas Department of Public Safety records crime data related to domestic violence as family violence, which also includes dating violence.
This abuse may embody several forms, as outlined by Understanding Houston—a collaborative initiative from the philanthropic organization, Greater Houston Community Foundation. Functions of domestic violence can include:
- Control: For example, monitoring phone calls and not allowing an individual time and space of their own;
- Physical abuse: This can include hitting and slapping, but also strangulation, withholding physical needs, injuring or threatening to injure others, such as children or pets;
- Sexual abuse: This includes making contact with the victim in any nonconsensual way;
- Emotional abuse and intimidation: For example, continued degradation, manipulation and brainwashing;
- Isolation: This means keeping a victim socially isolated from resources, which may help them leave the relationship;
- Verbal abuse: This includes coercion, threats and blame; and
- Economic abuse: This can include controlling the family income, making them turn their paycheck over, or causing them to lose a job or preventing them from taking a job, which can make it even more difficult for an individual to leave an abusive relationship as the batterer keeps them from having the necessary financial resources to support themselves.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety data, Fort Bend County noted over 521 incidents of family violence per 100,00 resident cases in 2021. Comparatively, Harris County saw almost 1,054 cases in the same year, and the entire state recorded nearly 795 cases.
Fort Bend County developed a community plan for 2020-21, which identified major community problems and ranked them by priority based on statistical data collected from school districts and governmental, nonprofit and law enforcement agencies.
Seven out of eight priorities for adult victims involved a lack of resources for those who have experienced family, domestic or sexual violence.
Some of these include limited access to available emergency shelters; strain on the criminal justice system to provide prosecution and follow-up investigation into cases involving family violence; and a need for crime victim liaisons, who would provide aid or information to victims.
Even further, victims of domestic violence need continued support and assistance, according to Fort Bend County’s community plan. It cites financial hardships related to the cost of relocating and maintaining a standard of living independent of a victim’s abuser and notes that victims often lose jobs from missing work to hide scars, seek medical attention, and attend police interviews and court cases.
Meanwhile, the Texas Council on Family Violence highlights evidence from research and interviews with survivors that many identity-specific factors—such as race, ethnicity, primary language, sexual orientation and gender expression—negatively affects their access to helping systems.
As the most diverse county in Texas, with a diversity index of 76.3% per 2020 census data, the impacts of domestic violence on underserved communities is especially relevant to Fort Bend County.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Data from the Women’s Policy Institute determined more than 40% of Black women experience physical violence by an intimate partner during their lifetimes, compared to 31.5% of all women.
Additionally, the TCFV cited data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the National Center for Transgender Equity that said people who identify as LGBTQ experience higher rates of domestic violence, and 54% of people identifying as transgender have experienced domestic violence.
County resources
In May, Fort Bend County dedicated a sum of $40,730.70 to four county nonprofit agencies: Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse, Child Advocates of Fort Bend, Fort Bend County Women's Center, and The Family Life and Community Resource Center.
The county also collects victim resources on its website, under the district attorney’s departments. Here are some local resources for and in support of victims who have experienced domestic violence within Fort Bend County, as listed in the county’s community plan.
- Child Advocates of Fort Bend:
- Court Appointed Special Advocates provide a voice to speak on behalf of abused and neglected children who are involved in the legal system through trained, court-appointed volunteers.
- The Children’s Advocacy Center lessens the emotional trauma of child victims by coordinating investigation, assessment, prosecution and treatment of sexual and serious physical abuse.
- Daya, Inc. provides temporary housing and other wraparound services to South Asian victims of family violence and their children.
- The Fort Bend Women’s Center provides temporary housing and other wraparound services to women and their children who have been victimized; crisis intervention counseling; and a rape crisis program.
- Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners provide forensic nursing exams in a culturally competent, linguistically appropriate atmosphere at a clinic or requested mobile location.
- Parks Youth Ranch offers shelter, counseling and support services for at-risk and homeless youth in Fort Bend County.
