Memorial honors 39 Minnesotans killed by intimate partner violence in 2023
The names of 39 Minnesotans killed by intimate partner violence in 2023 were read aloud.
They were from small towns and big cities. They were just a few days old to 77 years old. Rich, poor. Black, white. Gay, straight.
All of them were killed in an act of domestic violence.
Violence Free Minnesota, which put on Thursday’s memorial event, is a coalition of 90 member groups working to end relationship violence.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
“We gather today to recognize at least 39 victims of intimate partner homicide, in 2023,” said Guadalupe Lopez, the executive director of the coalition. “These are the highest confirmed numbers that we’ve had since the data started being collected in 1989.”
Family members and friends of those who were killed, advocates for ending domestic violence, politicians and members of law enforcement attended the memorial in St. Paul.
“Thank you for bearing witness to the remembering of these 39 individuals who have walked on,” Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said. “It’s important for us to come together like this, and to name every person that we’ve lost and to tell the truth. We know that gender-based violence, domestic violence — as people try to keep it behind closed doors it tumbles out into the streets into our neighborhoods into our communities, and that each of us has a role in disrupting it.”
Flanagan shared her own story of growing up in a home where she witnessed domestic violence.
“I’m a lieutenant governor. But what’s most important that you know about me today is that I’m a child witness,” she said. “And I’m a survivor. and I am here in this space. Because it took me a long time to be able to say that out loud.”
“I became an expert in making myself extremely small. Because that’s how I learned how to survive, to simply get out of the way,” she said. “And so I’m grateful for this opportunity to be here with you, and to be with advocates, and family and survivors. I want to be clear when I say that domestic violence impacts all of us.”
Kat Rohn, the head of OutFront Minnesota said that the LGBTQ+ community is also facing stark numbers.
"For our communities, specifically, the statistics are, unfortunately, very bleak,” Rohn said. “This last year, our anti-violence program, which runs a helpline, had two and a half times the number of calls to our anti-violence line than the year before. We are at a time when violence both individual and systemic against LGBTQ communities is on the rise.”
If you or someone you know needs help. You can call Minnesota DayOne, a confidential domestic violence hotline, at 866-223-1111 or go to the Violence Free Minnesota get help website.