Waterloo Times

More than a dozen people have died as a result of domestic violence cases in the Hawkeye State so far in 2021, a troubling statistic that came from data provided by the Iowa Attorney General's Crime Victim Assistance Division. 

Seventeen people died from domestic violence-related cases which was the total number of people who died from similar cases in the entire previous year, Radio Iowa reported Oct. 25.

"Seventeen people lost their lives as a result of domestic violence in the first nine months of 2021," Office of the Attorney General of Iowa wrote in a Facebook post. "Eleven women, four men and two bystanders were killed as a result of these domestic violence cases."

The Iowa Attorney General's Crime Victim Assistance Division could not specifically attribute the rise in domestic violence-related deaths directly to the coronavirus pandemic, but believes it is an aggravating factor, Radio Iowa reported.

A document from the division indicated that 2020's 17 domestic-violence related deaths was the highest number reported in Iowa over a 10-year period. 

Over a 26-year period, 358 people, including children, have been killed as a result of a domestic violence situation in the Hawkeye State, KCRG reported.