Analyzing the Impact of Bail Reform on Fatal Violence Against Women

The New Jersey capital building with a gold dome

January 27, 2025

By Emily Gallagher

Cash bail reforms aimed at eliminating pretrial detention for individuals unable to afford bail have sparked significant debate across the United States. Opponents of these reforms often express concern that reducing pretrial detention could lead to an increase in community violence, particularly violence against women.

A newly published study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine sought to evaluate whether New Jersey's cash bail reform was associated with changes in the rates of fatal violence against women. This study builds on the growing body of research on cash bail reform such as a recent study examining gun violence rates.

Jaquelyn Jahn, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of Epidemiology at the Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health and within the Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements, and Population Health Equity, and Taylor Riley, PhD, MPH, postdoctoral scholar at the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, led this new research.

"Addressing intimate partner violence requires a public health response rather than a criminal legal response." - Taylor Riley, PhD, MPH

They leveraged data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), a state-based surveillance system that monitors the characteristics of violent deaths.

The NVDRS integrates data from death certificates, coroner/medical examiner reports, and law enforcement reports to provide a comprehensive overview of who, where, and when violent deaths occur, along with the circumstances surrounding them.

The study found no significant changes in rates of fatal violence against women following bail reform policy implementation. In New Jersey, the rate of intimate partner violence-related homicide was 0.68 per 100,000 women before bail reform (2015–2016) and 0.54 per 100,000 after bail reform (2017–2019). In the 21 comparison states which did not implement bail reform, the rate was 0.88 per 100,000 before the policy and 1.03 per 100,000 after the policy.

“Mass incarceration has been shown to have deep and inequitable harms for individuals, families and communities, including survivors of intimate partner violence. This study suggests that New Jersey’s bail reform policy was able to lower rates of jail incarceration without exacerbating the crisis of fatal intimate partner violence,” said Jahn.

This research also shines a light on disparities by race as Black women had a higher risk of being killed by an intimate partner than white women. The average intimate partner violence-related homicide rate for Black women was 1.83 per 100,000, compared to 0.74 per 100,000 for white women. The study found no changes in rates of intimate partner homicide following bail reform among Black or white women. The publication notes an urgent need for holistic upstream public health interventions, such as housing and economic support, that can reduce violence.

“Addressing intimate partner violence requires a public health response rather than a criminal legal response. This means investment in prevention strategies and interventions that improve safety, access to housing, and financial independence for survivors,” said Riley.

Additional studies that investigate these trends are needed to further advocate and implement bail reform policy.

Read the full research: Examining Changes in Fatal Violence Against Women After Bail Reform in New Jersey

This research was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Evidence4Action program.