Domestic Violence Statistics and Help for Those Who are Abused
Almost four million American women
were physically abused by their husbands or boyfriends in the
last year alone. A woman is physically
abused every 9 seconds in this country.
Women
are more often victims of domestic violence than victims of
burglary, muggings, or other physical crime combined.
Domestic Violence is the leading cause of
injury to women between the ages of 14-55.
More than 1 in 3 Americans have witnessed
an incident of domestic violence, according to a nationwide survey
released by the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FUND) last year.
Forty-two percent of murdered women are
killed by their intimate male partners.
Separated or divorced women were 14 times
more likely than married women to report having been a victim of
violence by a spouse or ex-spouse.
Although separated or divorced women
comprised 10% of all women, they reported 75% of the spousal violence.
(Female victims of Violent Crime, 1991, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of
Justice Statistics, Carole Wolf Harlow, Ph.D., BJS Statistician)
Within the last year, 7% of American women
(3.9 million) who are married or living with someone as a couple were
physically abused, and 37% (20.7 million) were verbally or emotionally
abused by their spouse or partner.
Pregnancy is a risk factor
for battering.Close to half of all
incidents of domestic violence against women discovered in the National
Crime Survey (48%) were not reported to police.
92% of women who were physically abused by
their partners did not discuss these incidents with their physicians;
57% did not discuss the incidents with anyone.
As violence against women becomes more severe
and more frequent in the home, children experience a 300% increase
in physical violence by the male batterer (Murray Straus and Robert
Gelles, Physical Violence in American Families, 1990)
Domestic violence is repetitive in nature:
about 1 in 5 women victimized by their spouse or ex-spouse reported that
they had been a victim of a series of at least 3 assaults in the last 6
months.
How to Get Help if You are Abused
If you are a victim of abuse of any kind you can find help with the
following resources:
How to
report suspected child abuse or neglect
Develop a personal
safety plan
Get help from a professional,
licensed counselor
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