As October draws to a close, communities across Ohio and Northern Ireland are grappling with a chilling surge in domestic violence fatalities and harrowing accounts of abuse. In Ohio, the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN) reported a staggering 37% rise in domestic violence deaths between 2024 and 2025—the largest spike in the past decade. Meanwhile, in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, a survivor’s personal testimony has cast a stark light on the long-lasting trauma inflicted by such violence, even as police forces record tens of thousands of incidents each year.
According to ODVN data, the sharp increase in fatalities includes both victims and perpetrators, with murder-suicides accounting for roughly half of this year’s deaths. The network relies primarily on media reports, which, as policy director Maria York noted, may partly explain the uptick. “There is more violence, and that’s something that we can’t excuse away,” York told local reporters. “But the other thing that we noticed in this report is that the media is reporting very well on the homicides.”
In Cuyahoga County, the heart of Cleveland, 20 people were killed in domestic violence incidents between July 2024 and June 2025. Of those, 10 were victims, eight were perpetrators, and two were bystanders caught in the crossfire. One of the victims was just 15 years old, underscoring the devastating reach of such violence. This grim toll is the highest in the past two years, though not the worst in five.
The rise in fatalities is mirrored by a growing number of people seeking protection. Judge Diane Palos, administrative judge at the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas’ Domestic Relations Court, said that about 1,400 protection orders were filed in the past year—a 4% increase over the previous year. “We have community partners who know that they can send people down here, that the person will be treated with respect, will have an opportunity to talk to an advocate,” Palos explained. She believes this reflects both increased violence and greater trust between survivors, advocates, and the justice system.
Advocates are responding to these grim statistics with renewed urgency, especially during October’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In Cleveland, survivors like Betty Halliburton are sharing their own stories to help others find a way out. “Most of the women in particular will suffer in silence because they can’t connect how their circumstance is compared to another,” Halliburton said at a community event. “So when you are able to bring women like myself together and say, ‘I am one of the survivors of domestic violence, and I chose to fight,’ … I can help other women.”
Halliburton, alongside other advocates like Yvonka Hall and poet laureate Honey Bell Bey, regularly presents at community gatherings. Their presentation, “No more tears: When your sweetie ain’t so sweet,” draws on deeply personal experiences. Halliburton recounted being beaten by a former boyfriend until she was semi-unconscious. “Love should never hurt you. So I had to take the necessary time to get healed,” she told attendees. “You can’t get healed if you’re not willing to reveal. You got to tell somebody.”
For Hall, the executive director of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition, domestic violence is a lifelong shadow. She was just six when her father killed her mother. “My life forever changed,” Hall recalled. “…I looked at that and said, you know, ‘How do I prevent this from happening to someone else?’”
The advocates also provide practical guidance: planning an escape should be done in secret, involving only the most trusted friends or family. At their events, they distribute bags packed with essentials—first aid kits, deodorant, and plastic sleeves for important documents—to help women leave abusive situations.
“I tell my story because I want to pull somebody else out the fire,” Halliburton said. Their message is clear: awareness and sharing can break the silence that allows abuse to thrive. “Abuse thrives in silence, is what we like to say,” York emphasized.
Ohio’s legislative landscape complicates prevention efforts. Despite a federal law barring those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from owning firearms, the state has no parallel law, making enforcement patchy. “Even though we have a federal law, it gets really complicated to enforce that on the local level,” York explained. “And so we need a parallel state law.” A bill to address this was introduced in 2023 but stalled in the legislature. However, Ohio did recently pass a law making strangulation a felony, aiming to stem domestic violence homicides or at least improve prosecution.
Cuyahoga County stands out for its prevention efforts: it has a specialized court docket for high-risk offenders and some police departments use lethality assessments at domestic violence scenes. These measures may be why the county’s fatality rate is lower than in places like Franklin County, where Columbus is located. “Cleveland does … have a lot of great prevention strategies,” York said.
Across the Atlantic, the personal story of Iwona Giza, a 28-year-old doctor from Omagh, County Tyrone, has brought the psychological scars of abuse into sharp focus. On October 23, 2025, her abuser Barry Maguire was sentenced to five years for a string of offences, including five counts of non-fatal strangulation. Giza, originally from Dublin, met Maguire in 2021 during a vulnerable time after medical school. The relationship turned abusive within two months, escalating from verbal to physical violence.
“It then progressed into physical abuse, strangulation and choking became a regular thing,” Giza told BBC News NI. Maguire’s control was relentless—he confiscated her phone and wallet, isolating her from help. The abuse reached a horrifying peak when he forced her to eat food off the floor while filming her, threatening her life. “I was certain that I’m going to die because whilst he was choking me and spitting at me he whispered to my ear that I’m going to die,” Giza recounted.
Her ordeal, she said, was “psychologically damaging and long lasting.” Even now, she struggles with anxiety and flashbacks. “To this day when I feel anxious I can feel that breathlessness like every time he choked me and I was unable to breathe,” she said. Giza credits her neighbors for saving her life and is grateful that Maguire is now imprisoned. She urges other victims to seek help: “Never feel ashamed, do not blame yourself, always reach out, if it feels wrong if you feel unsafe or scared—ask for help.”
The scale of the problem in Northern Ireland is daunting. The Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded 32,763 domestic abuse incidents and nearly 20,000 domestic abuse crimes in 2024, with an average of 84 arrests each month. These figures, like those in Ohio, represent not just statistics but thousands of lives upended by violence and control.
For those in Cuyahoga County seeking help, resources include the Journey Center for Safety and Healing and a 24/7 hotline at 216-391-4357. As advocates and survivors continue to speak out, their stories are not just warnings—they are lifelines for others who may still be suffering in silence.
