This section provides information on fatality reviews, a tool increasingly being used by advocates and practitioners to examine the barriers to safety, justice, and self determination that victims face, identify the gaps in our community response to domestic violence, raise community awareness, and mobilize communities to advocate for change so that intimate partner homicide can ultimately be prevented. This section is divided into three sub-sections: Approaches and Recommendations for Fatality Review, Sample Fatality Review Reports, and Using Fatality Review Reports in Our Work. For additional information and technical assistance on fatality review, please visit the website of the National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative (NDVFRI). The mission of NDVFRI is “to provide technical assistance for the reviewing of domestic violence related deaths with the underlying objectives of preventing them in the future, preserving the safety of battered women, and holding accountable both the perpetrators of domestic violence and the multiple agencies and organizations that come into contact with the parties.” This website provides state-by-state information, reports, and a variety of other publications to support initiatives related to fatality review.
"The fatality review process is a critical component in helping communities understand the events that may have led to a domestic violence homicide, and ultimately to determine how to prevent such homicides” (FCADV, 2009).
“Like the reviews conducted after an airplane crash, a fatality review helps determine what went wrong and what could have been done differently to prevent the tragedy” (Websdale, 2003)