Intimate Partner Violence
The Department of Justice found that women ages 16 - 24 are the most likely
victims of intimate partner violence (US Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Statistics,
October 2001).
As many as 1 in 5 couples in the United States experience at least 1 episode of
partner-to-partner violence.
Women are more likely than men to be repeatedly abused, injured, or die as a
result of partner violence.
Women are more willing to disclose violent episodes than men. Women who are
assaulted are 9 times more likely than men to report it to the police and 5 times
more likely to tell a friend or relative.
35-50% of victims of intimate partner violence are male.
It is estimated that in this country a woman is severely assaulted by her male
partner every 15 seconds, and a man is severely assaulted by his female partner
every 14.6 seconds.
About 8-10% of male-to-female partner violence is reported, while only 1-2% of
female-to-male partner violence is reported.
The majority of victims murdered by their current or former intimate partners are
either estranged, separated, or in the process of leaving the relationship.
Every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted in the United States, usually by her male
partner.
32% of college students report dating violence by a previous partner and 21%
report violence by a current partner. National Center for Victims of Crime, 2006.
61% of female homicide victims were wives or intimate acquaintances of their
killers. NCADV Violence Policy Center Annual Report, 2004.
About 1 in 320 households were affected by intimate partner violence.
Female victims are more likely to be victimized by intimates than male victims.
In 2005, of offenders victimizing females, 18% were described as intimates and
34% as strangers. By contrast, of offenders victimizing males, 3% were described
as intimates and 54% as strangers.
Of females killed with a firearm, almost two-thirds were killed by their
intimate partners. The number of females shot and killed by their husband
or intimate partner was more than three times higher than the total number
murdered by male strangers using all weapons combined in single
victim/single offender incidents in 2002.
The Violence Pol'y Ctr., When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2002
Homicide Data: Females Murdered by Males in Single Victim/Single Offender
Incidents, at 7 (2004), available at
http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2004.pdf
Teens
18-24 year-olds comprised only 11.7% of the population in 1998 and 2002, but were the
majority of victims of violence committed by a boyfriend or girlfriend (42%).
Matthew R. Durose et al., U.S. Dep't of Just., NCJ 207846, Bureau of Justice
Statistics, Family Violence Statistics: Including Statistics on Strangers and
Acquaintances, at 11 (2005), available at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/fvs.pdf
Approximately one in five female high school students reports being physically and/or
sexually abused by a dating partner.
Jay G. Silverman et al., Dating Violence Against Adolescent Girls and Associated
Substance Use, Unhealthy Weight Control, Sexual Risk Behavior, Pregnancy, and
Suicidality, 286 J. Am. Med. Ass'n 572-579 (2001).
In a study of eighth and ninth graders, 25 percent indicated that they had been victims
of dating violence, including eight percent who disclosed being sexually abused.
Vangie A. Foshee et al., The Safe Date Project: Theoretical Basis, Evaluation Design,
and Selected Baseline Findings, 12 Am. J. of Preventive Med. 39 (1996).
In a survey of 232 high school girls, 17.8% of the participants indicated that they had
been forced to engage in sexual activity against their will by a dating partner.
David R. Jezl, Christian E. Molidor & Tracy L. Wright, Physical, Sexual & Psychological
Abuse in High School Dating Relationships: Prevalence Rates and Self-esteem Issues, 13
Child & Adolescent Soc. Work J. 69 (1996).
Among female students between the ages of 15-20 who reported at least one violent act
during a dating relationship, 24% reported experiencing extremely violent incidents
such as rape or the use of weapons against them.
P.Y. Symons et al., Prevalence and Predictors of Adolescent Dating Violence, 7 J. of
Child & Adolescent Pediatric Nursing 14 (1994).
Girls who reported that they had been sexually or physically abused were more than
twice as likely as non abused girls to report smoking (26% versus 10%), drinking (22%
versus 12%), and using illegal drugs (30% versus 13%). In addition, 32 percent of girls
who had been abused reported bingeing and purging, compared to 12 percent of girls who
had not been abused.
Cathy Schoen et al., The Commonwealth Fund, The Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health
of Adolescent Girls (1997).
In a study of 724 adolescent mothers between the ages of 12-18, one of every eight
pregnant adolescents reported having been physically assaulted by the father of her
baby during the preceding 12 months. Of these, 40 percent also reported experiencing
violence at the hands of a family member or relative.
Constance M. Wiemann et al., Pregnant Adolescents: Experiences and Behaviors Associated
with Physical Assault by an Intimate Partner, 4 Maternal & Child Health J. 93 (2000).
Physical aggression occurs in 1 in 3 teen dating relationships.
Sarah Avery-Leaf & Michele Cascardi, Dating Violence Education: Prevention and Early
Intervention Strategies, in Preventing Violence in Relationships 82 (Paul A. Schewe
ed., 2002).
Fifty to eighty percent of teens report knowing someone involved in a violent
relationship.
Maura O'Keefe & Laura Trester, Victims of Dating Violence Among High School Students, 4
Violence Against Women 195 (1998). See also Family Violence Prevention Fund, The Facts
on Teenagers and Intimate Partner Violence,
http://www.endabuse.org/resources/facts/Teenagers.pdf (2006); and National Center for
Victims of Crime, Teen Dating Violence Sheet, http://www.ncvc.org/dvrc (2004).
Children
Each year an estimated 3.3 million children are exposed to violence
against their mothers or female caretakers by family members. (American
Psychological Association, Violence and the Family: Report of the APA
Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family,1996)
Studies show that child abuse occurs in 30 to 60 percent of family
violence cases that involve families with children. (J.L. Edleson, "The
overlap between child maltreatment and woman battering." Violence
Against Women, February, 1999.)
A survey of 6,000 American families found that 50 percent of men who
assault their wives, also abuse their children. (Pagelow, "The
Forgotten Victims: Children of Domestic Violence," 1989)
Research shows that 80 to 90 percent of children living in homes where
there is domestic violence are aware of the violence. (Pagelow,
"Effects of Domestic Violence on Children," Mediation Quarterly, 1990)
A number one predictor of child abuse is woman abuse. (Stark and
Flitcraft, "Women at Risk: A Feminist Perspective on Child Abuse,"
International Journal of Health Services, 1988)
The more severe the abuse of the mother, the worse the child abuse.
(Bowker, Arbitell, and McFerron, "On the Relationship Between Wife
Beating and Child Abuse," Perspectives on Wife Abuse, 1988)
Some 80 percent of child fatilities within the family are attributable
to fathers or father surrogates. (Bergman, Larsen and Mueller,
"Changing Spectrum of Serious Child Abuse," Pediatrics, 1986)
In families where the mother is assaulted by the father, daughters are
at risk of sexual abuse 6.51 times greater than girls in non-abusive
families (Bowker, Arbitell and McFerron, 1988)
A child's exposure to the father abusing the mother is the strongest
risk fact for transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the
next (American Psychological Association, Violence and the Family:
Report of the APA Presidential Task Force on Violence and the
Family,1996)
Male children who witness the abuse of mothers by fathers are more
likely to become men who batter in adulthood than those male children
from homes free of violence (Rosenbaum and O'Leary, "Children: The
Unintended Victims of Marital Violence," American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry, 1981)
Older children are frequently assaulted when they intervene to defend
or protect their mothers. (Hilberman and Munson, "Sixty Battered
Women," Victimology: An International Journal, 1977-78)
In a 36-month study of 146 children, ages 11-17 who came from homes
where there was domestic violence, all sons over the age of 14
attempted to protect their mothers from attacks. Some 62 percent were
injured in the process. (Roy, 1988)
WE MUST SOUND THE ALARM!!!
