In the Dayton area, domestic violence incidents increased during the pandemic – often with weapons involved – and the numbers have not dropped back down. In just two weeks in February 2025, three people died in domestic violence-related cases in Miami Valley – one of them a 34-year-old mother whose two children ran to a neighbor’s house for help after her ex-boyfriend allegedly broke into her home and shot her.
Documenting the economic cost from intimate partner violence is crucial when federal funding for domestic violence services is unclear, and the Ohio legislature is meeting to set the state budget for 2026-2027. ODVN is grateful to Gov. Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost for including $20 million in essential line-item funding for domestic violence services in their proposed budgets.
It’s money well spent. The new report demonstrates that the state earns a sizeable return on that investment, which funded services for more than 127,000 survivors though ODVN’s 76 member programs in 2023.
For Ohio, the largest economic costs inflicted by abusers were for physical health care for victims ($264.8 million annually, or 22.9% of the total cost); loss of life ($239.9 million, or 20.8%); and loss of worker productivity ($227.7 million, or 19.7%).
One reason ODVN initiated the study was to demonstrate the impact domestic violence has on employers and the workplace. When victims are hurt and unable to work, they lose wages and spend less in the local economy. Their employers lose productivity and see decreased output, spending less with vendors and reducing the amount vendors themselves can spend.
The costs ripple out throughout the state with increased expenses for law enforcement and the judicial system; for incarcerating abusers; and for the long-term impact that domestic violence has on the children who witness the violence and are sometimes attacked themselves.
The study estimates that Ohio has more than 188,000 victims of intimate partner violence each year, with 114 documented fatalities from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 – ranging from a 4-month-old baby to an 85-year-old woman. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence estimates that 38% of Ohio’s women and 33% of the state’s men will experience intimate partner violence, rape or stalking at least once in their lifetime.
Ohio currently spends 85 cents per capita on domestic violence services, considerably less than most of the five surrounding states, which range from $1.31 per capita in Indiana to $3.06 per capita in Kentucky. ODVN’s member programs sheltered 9,707 survivors and children in 2023, but turned away nearly 8,200, which meant that nearly one in two survivors who sought shelter didn’t get it.
This report makes it clear: for Ohio, funding domestic violence services is a terrific investment. It saves money and saves lives.
Jane Keiffer is executive director of Artemis Center, which provides services for domestic violence survivors and their children in Dayton.
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