It doesn't just happen to “Other” people – An exploration of occupation and education level of women who die from intimate partner violence

Introduction: While age, sex, and race/ethnicity of victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) have been described, little has been examined regarding other characteristics. We aim to characterize occupation and education levels of female victims of IPV homicide. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the National Violent Death Reporting System from 2003 to 2015 for victims of IPV homicide. Occupation, industry, and education fields were examined to categorize victims according to the 2010 Standard Occupation Classification. Results: 4931 female victims of IPV were included. When clustering by job type, no single group dominated. Most victims had completed at least high school, with approximately 20% having at least some college. Conclusion: Occupation and education level of women victims do not predict or protect against homicide in IPV, and these details are often omitted in data collection. This underscores the societal ubiquity of this public health crisis and argues for universal screening and better data collection, including in surgical populations.