October is Domestic Violence Prevention Month and a grim reminder of the reality that a leading cause of death for women ages 20-44 is homicide by an intimate partner.

In June, the State Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team found domestic violence homicides in Massachusetts jumped 20% to a five-year high in 2025, with an additional 22,000 assaults by an intimate partner. The CDC’s 2025 statistics show that 20% of pregnant people experience domestic violence, and the leading cause of death for pregnant people in the U.S. is also homicide.

Just this past Spring, Hampshire County lost two women: Diane Opper, shot and killed in her home in Belchertown and Emma McDonald, who was beaten to death in Amherst. In both cases, the husbands have been charged with murder.

Last November, a report by UN Women and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that in 2024, 137 women and girls died every day at the hands of their partner or a close relative, which means one woman is killed every 10 minutes. The UNODC report said that femicides are the ultimate evidence that the systems and structures meant to protect women and girls are failing. “There is an urgent need for strong criminal justice systems that hold perpetrators accountable, while ensuring adequate support for survivors,” added Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC.

It is time to face the reality of violence against women and use that to inform our response to help victims become survivors.

Hema Serang-Sieminski of Jane Doe Inc. says, “Behaviors such as isolating people from their family and friends, over-monitoring their social media or restricting what they can do in their free time can all be signs of intimate partner abuse.” In 2024, the Massachusetts Legislature expanded MGL Ch 209A, allowing victims of non-violent forms of abuse to get a restraining order. Codifying coercive control helps victims whose abusers do not leave a bruise or a mark.

The judiciary and criminal justice systems interacting with victims must understand the dynamics of abuse. A lack of prior physical harm does not guarantee no future violence will occur. It is critical that these systems respond to victims before their situation escalates. Increased awareness and sympathy have to be the first step in recognizing someone is asking for help who might not even know they need it. Or what danger they are in.

The Domestic Violence Service Network reports that “The time surrounding leaving their abuser is the most dangerous time for a victim. Risk of lethality is severely increased if the abuser feels they are losing control over the victim. According to the United States Department of Justice, 75% of homicide victims and 85% of women who experienced severe but non-fatal domestic violence had left or tried to leave their abuser within the past year. For that reason, many women do not extend their protective orders, even in cases where their lives have been threatened, because they fear standing next to him in court. Their fear is justified.

Perhaps it is time to recognize the inherent danger for women seeking a restraining order and allow them to be physically separated from their defendant instead of requiring the two parties to stand in the same courtroom? The Executive Office of the Trial Court updated guidelines from October 2025 for 209A say that “The court should ensure an orderly proceeding and should be cognizant of safety issues… [and] placement of participants in the courtroom with this in mind.” That directive does not adequately appreciate the risk of lethality inherent in the 209A process or the level of fear in a person seeking one.

The statistical probability that the accusations of abuse are true should demonstrate the need to be separated from indiscriminate, intangible assessments of a woman’s demeanor. Why isn’t safety a greater concern than veracity? Since COVID, MA Courts have continued to rely on virtual hearings for many reasons; why not for the safety of a person fleeing abuse?

It is time we protect victims of domestic violence when they are most vulnerable — even if that is in the courtroom.

Mary Olberding is Hampshire Register of Deeds and a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Human Trafficking. She lives in Belchertown.