Nikki Engel is the interim co-executive director at Violence Free Minnesota. “Intimate partner violence is a public health crisis and a social issue. Violence Free Minnesota also named 11 people who were killed as bystanders or attempted to intervene in an incident. “We have so many different facets of our society and community that are touched by domestic violence,” Royer said. Violence Free Minnesota has published a version of the annual report every year since 1989.