Abuse at Home

Estimates range from 960,000 incidents of violence against a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend per year to 3.9 million women who are physically abused by their husbands or live-in partners per year. (U.S. Department of Justice, Violence by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends, March 1998; The Commonwealth Fund, First Comprehensive National Health Survey of American Women, July 1993)

Nearly one-third of American women (31%) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. (The Commonwealth Fund, Health Concerns Across a Woman's Lifespan: 1998 Survey of Women's Health, May 1999)

Thirty percent of Americans say they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband or boyfriend in the past year. (Lieberman Research Inc., "Domestic Violence Advertising Campaign Tracking Study" (Wave IV). Conducted for The Advertising Council and the Family Violence Prevention Fund, July-October 1996)

37% of women who sought emergency room treatment for violence-related injuries in 1994 were injured by a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. (U.S. Department of Justice, Violence Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments, August 1997)

More than 50% of female victims of intimate violence live in households with children under age 12. (U.S. Department of Justice, Violence by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends, March 1998)

26% of all female murder victims in 1995 were killed by their partners. (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States 1995: Uniform Crime Reports)

Approximately 1,830 murders in 1998 were attributed to intimates; nearly 75% of these had a female victim. (U.S. Department of Justice, Intimate Partner Violence, May 2000)

There were 691,710 nonfatal violent victimizations committed by current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends of the victims during 2001. Such crimes - intimate partner violence - primarily involve female victims. About 588,490, or 85% of victimizations by intimate partners in 2001 were against women. (U.S. Department of Justice, Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2001)