Domestic Violence

What Domestic Violence Is

Family violence knows no age, color, income, religious or educational boundaries. There is growing community concern about family violence and it is often difficult for people to acknowledge violence in intimate or familial relationships. There are different ways in which violence may occur at home including child, elder, parent sibling and spousal abuse. Spousal abuse is the most common. Even though this term implies violence among married couples, men and women do not have to married for this type of violence to occur and statistics show that the abuser is more often male, females may be abusive as well.

The FBI, Department of Social Services, local law enforcement, and emergency room reports all contribute to national domestic abuse stats. Many women, however only report abuse to their friends, family members, counselors, doctors, nurses, or clergy members, making statistical information only an educated guess as to the magnitude of this problem.

Domestic Violence Statistics

  • Women account for 95% of domestic violence victims
  • A woman is more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped, or killed by a male partner than by any other type of assailant
  • An estimated 3 to 4 million American women are battered each year by their husbands or partners
  • Weapons are used in 30% of domestic violence incidents
  • Medical expenses from domestic violence total $3 to $5 billion annually
  • Business forfeit another $100 million in lost wages, sick leaves, absenteeism, and being nonproductive
  • Abusive husbands and boyfriends harass 74% of employed battered women at work, either in person or on the telephone, causing 20% to lose their jobs
  • As violence against women becomes more severe and more frequent in the home, children experience a 300% increase in physical violence by the male battered
  • Physical domestic abuse results in more injuries requiring medical treatment than rape, car accidents, and mugging combined
  • More than one million women seek medical assistance annually for injuries caused by battering
  • One fifth of all women treated by emergency rooms receive their injuries from their male partners
  • Violence will occur at least once in two-thirds of all marriages

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