FACTS

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE--SPOUSE ABUSE--BATTERING

All describe extreme turmoil in the home. But these terms are not limited to physical beatings alone. ABUSE includes psychological attacks as well as pushing, slapping, biting, kicking, punching, shoving, choking, throwing objects, forced sexual acts, use of weapons, confinement, or destruction of personal property or pets.

The statistics surrounding the tragedy of domestic violence are startling:

• Domestic Violence is the leading cause of injuries to women ages 15-44; more common than auto accidents, muggings, rapes, and cancer deaths combined.
• Four million women a year are physically assaulted by their male partners.
• Every 12 seconds a woman is battered.
• At least 60% of battered women are sexually abused by their partners.
• 1 in 4 women who go to Emergency Rooms has been battered.
• 60% of battered women are beaten while pregnant.
• 3 in 5 pregnant women who go to Emergency Rooms have been battered.
• 50% of all couples in America experience some type of physical abuse.
• Violence is present and severe in 10% of all homes.
• Violence occurs on a regular basis in 40% of all homes.
• 1 in 2 women will experience violence in a relationship at some point in her life.
• 4 women in America are killed every day by their intimate, male partner.
• 30% of all murders in the US in 1993 were spouse killing spouse.
• 40% of women who commit murder, do so in self-defense.
• 1/4 of all homicides and serious assaults are domestic related.
• 40% of all women murdered are murdered by their partner.
• Over six million men in America abuse their partner.
• Male children who witness abuse of one parent by another are, as adults, 700 times more likely to beat their female partners.
• If male children are also physically abused themselves, they are 1,000 times more likely to beat their female partners.
• Battered women are 4-5 times more likely than non-battered women to require psychiatric treatment and 5 times more suicidal.
• Police spend 1/3 of their time responding to domestic violence calls.
• Domestic abuse is the most under-reported crime in America; only 10% is reported.
• Domestic abuse is the number 1 draw on the domestic economy; exceeding $12 billion annually.
• Domestic abuse costs employers $3.5 billion in employee absenteeism yearly, and millions more in increasing healthcare benefits.
• No segment of society is exempt from domestic violence. It knows no boundaries; neither religious, ethnic, or social.