Domestic Violence statistic

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline has received more than 700,000 calls for assistance since February 1996. National Domestic Violence Hotline, December 2001
• Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. Commonwealth Fund survey, 1998
• It is estimated that 503,485 women are stalked by an intimate partner each year in the United States. National Institute of Justice, July 2000
• Estimates range from 960,000 incidents of violence against a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend each year to 4 million women who are physically abused by their husbands or live-in partners each year. Violence by Intimates Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends, U.S. Department of Justice, March, 1998
• In 1996, among all female murder victims in the U.S., 30% were slain by their husbands or boyfriends. Uniform Crime Reports of the U.S. 1996, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1996
• 31,260 women were murderedby an intimate from 1976-1996. Violence by Intimates Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends, U.S. Department of Justice, March, 1998

The majority of welfare recipients have experienced domestic abuse in their adult lives and a high percentage are currently abused. Trapped by Poverty, Trapped by Abuse New Evidence Documenting the Relationship Between Domestic Violence and Welfare, The Taylor Institute, April, 1997

The American Medical Association estimates that over 4 million women are victims of severe assaults by boyfriends and husbands each year. About 1 in 4 women is likely to be abused by a partner in her lifetime. (Sara Glazer, "Violence Against Women," CQ Researcher, Congressional Quarterly Inc., Vol. 3, No. 8, Feb. 1993, p.171.)

The victim in domestic violence is female in 85% of all cases reported. She is white in 64% of domestic violence cases. The average age of the offender is 31 years. (Uniform Crime Reports as cited by M.C. Moewe, "The Hidden Violence: For Richeer and For Poorer," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Apr. 5, 1992) From August 1989 to Jan. 1990, faculty members at Midwestern State University conducted a study based on a random statewide mail survey of 6,000 women. More than 50% of women who said they had been abused reported by their spouse reported family incomes above $35,000. Just over 70% were Anglo; 10.4% were black; and 9.5% were Hispanic. The women were also asked to provide information on education levels and income of the abusers. That profile showed that more than 18 % had a bachelor's degree or higher. M.C. Moewe, "The Hidden Violence: For Richer and For Poorer," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 5, 1992.)

Results of the National Family Survey indicate that all forms of marital violence occur most frequently among those under 30 years of age. The rate of marital violence among those under 30 years of age is more than double the rate for the next older age group (31 to 50). Studies that examine women who seek help from agencies or shelters also find that the mean age is 30 or younger. (Richard Gelles and Claire Pedrick Cornell, Intimate Violence in Families, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1990, p.74.) Among all female murder victims in 1992, 30% were slain by husbands or boyfriends. (Uniform Crime Reports, Crime in the United States 1992 Washington, D.C.: Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1993, p.16.) According to the Uniform Crime Report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 30% of women killed in the United States die at the hands of a husband or boyfriend. In 1990, more than 800 women were killed by their husbands; 400 more were killed by their boyfriends. (Antonia C. Novello, "From the Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service, a Medical Response to Domestic Violence, "Journal of the American Medical Association, June 17, 1992, p.3132.)

Carmody and Williams (Carmody, D.C. and K.R. Williams, "Wife Assault and Perceptions of Sanctions." Violence and Victims 2, 1987, 1:25-38) found that 52% of the women killed between 1980 and 1984 were killed by a husband, ex-husband, common-law-husband or boyfriend. (Anna Wilson, ed., Introduction to Homicide: The Victim/Offender Connection, Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing Co., 1993, p. 3.)
Every 9 seconds a women is beaten in the United States.
Between 3 and 4 million women are battered each year.
85-95% of all domestic violence victims are female.
Women age 20 - 34 endure the highest rates of domestic violence.
Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women.
Women are more likely to be attacked by someone they know rather than by a stranger.

Domestic Violence Washington State

Statistics

Shelters:

Services:

Lethal

• Intimate partners committed fewer murders in each of the 3 years 1996, 1997, and 1998 than in any other year since 1976.
• Between 1976 and 1998, the number of male victims of intimate partner homicide fell an average 4% per year and the number of female victims fell an average 1%.
• In 1998 women were nearly 3 out of 4 victims of the 1,830 murders attributable to intimate partners. In 1976 women were just over half the approximate 3,000 victims.
• The percentage of female murder victims killed by intimate partners has remained at about 30% since 1976.
  
  Nonlethal
  
• The number of female victims of intimate violence declined from 1993 to 1998. In 1998 women experienced about 900,000 violent offenses at the hands of an intimate, down from 1.1 million in 1993.
• In both 1993 and 1998, men were victims of about 160,000 violent crimes by an intimate partner.
• Considered by age category, 1993-98, women ages 16 to 24 experienced the highest per capita rates of intimate violence (19.6 per 1,000 women).
• About half the intimate partner violence against women, 1993-98, was reported to the police; black women were more likely than other women to report such violence.
• About 4 of 10 female victims of intimate partner violence lived in households with children under age 12. Population estimates suggest that 27% of U.S. households were home to children under 12.
• Half of female victims of intimate partner violence reported a physical injury. About 4 in 10 of these victims sought professional medical treatment. Estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicate that in 1998 about 1 million violent crimes were committed against persons by their current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends. Such crimes, termed intimate partner violence, are committed primarily against women. About 85% of victimizations by intimate partners in 1998, about 876,340, were against women. Intimate partner violence made up 22% of violent crime against women between 1993 and 1998. By contrast, during this period intimate partners committed 3% of the violence against men. Women experienced intimate partner violence at lower rates in 1998 than in 1993. From 1993 to 1997 the rate of intimate partner violence fell from 9.8 to 7.5 per 1,000 women. In 1998 the rate was virtually unchanged from that in 1997 (7.7 per 1,000 women). Males experienced intimate partner violence at similar rates in 1993 and 1998 (1.6 and 1.5 per 1,000 men, respectively). Household income Women living in households with lower annual household incomes experienced intimate partner violence at significantly higher rates than women in households with higher annual incomes. Intimate partners victimized women living in households with the lowest annual household income at a rate nearly 7 times that of women living in households with the highest annual household income (20 versus 3 per 1,000). No discernible relationship emerged between intimate partner violence against males and household income.


from the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence website