Finding the Victim's Voice in Fatality Reviews

Since the first fatality review team in San Francisco examined Joseph Charan's murder of his wife Veena Charan, many countries have instituted fatality reviews to understand and prevent deaths related to intimate partner violence (Pow et al., 2015). Australia's approach is notable because it has established fatality review teams featuring centralized data collection in most Australian states. Moreover, Australia has created a national data set attempting to account for all domestic violence homicides across the country. This chapter describes the Australian approach to domestic violence fatality reviews, including effective strategies for overcoming obstacles to establishing a systematic review of domestic violence fatalities. This chapter also describes the benefits of establishing a national data set of domestic violence fatalities. Key among such benefits is the research drawing from Australia's national data set to highlight important patterns and trends that reveal truths about the victim experience. Australia's experience also invites further investigation into two issues that often vex fatality review teams: first, how to adequately account for the experiences of those victims who have little to no contact with state entities; and second, how to ensure and incentivize implementation of the recommendations made by fatality review teams.