State laws on intimate partner violence witnessed by children in the United States

Erica Cook Reott; Rachel Hulkower; Christiana Lancaster; Meghan T Frey; Rachel Clark Smith; Cameron Thomas; Valerie Godoshian

doi:10.1057/s41271-025-00550-4

State laws on intimate partner violence witnessed by children in the United States

J Public Health Policy. 2025 Jan 17. doi: 10.1057/s41271-025-00550-4. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Erica Cook Reott¹, Rachel Hulkower², Christiana Lancaster³, Meghan T Frey⁴, Rachel Clark Smith⁵, Cameron Thomas⁴, Valerie Godoshian⁶

Affiliations

¹ Office of Budget Policy and Appropriations, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. [email protected].
² Office of Public Health Ethics and Regulations, Office of Science, Immediate Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
³ Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁴ Office of Policy and Partnerships, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁵ Behavioral Health Coordinating Unit, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁶ Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.

PMID: 39824981
DOI: 10.1057/s41271-025-00550-4

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is common, and almost half of all IPV takes place in relationships with children in the home. We inventoried laws in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the United States of America (USA) focused on addressing IPV committed in the presence of children, as these laws could help prevent or remediate this critical health and social issue. Using WestLaw, a web-based legal research service, we identified over 1,200 statutes and 500 regulations. We documented the laws' key attributes and heterogeneities and coded 557 laws from 31 states. We determined that the most commonly prescribed penalty was stricter sentencing, followed by mandates to pay for counseling for any child witnesses, separate additional criminal charges, mandated receipt of counseling or intervention services, and a period of supervised parenting. Future research could assess the possible impacts of these laws on children's short- and long-term wellbeing.

Keywords: Adverse childhood experiences; Child witnessing; Domestic violence; Intimate partner violence.