The hard truth about domestic violence
Alarming statistics indicate that, as you read this short sentence, a woman has become the victim of assault. According to the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, every 9 seconds, another woman in the U.S. is beaten.
Every nine seconds.
It’s a sobering reality for one in four women in the U.S. will experience domestic violence in their lifetime, most frequently by someone they know. Female victims most commonly first experience domestic violence between the ages of 18-24 (38.6%), followed by age 11-17 (22.4%), age 35-44 (6.8%) and age 45+ (2.5%). Almost one out of five or 16.3% of murder victims in the U.S. were killed by an intimate partner; women account for two out of three murder victims killed by an intimate partner.
Violence against women occurs predominantly behind closed doors at home with most cases having never been reported to police. But that doesn’t mean the problem isn’t visible and doesn’t spill into future generations. Domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness among families with 50% of all women who are homeless reporting that domestic violence was the immediate cause of their homelessness, according to The National Center on Family Homelessness.
The risk of perpetrating intimate partner violence as an adult is two times greater for those who were abused or witnessed their mother being abused during their own childhood. Likewise, the risk of becoming a victim of domestic violence as a teen or adult is greatly increased when young people are raised in households where abuse is present.
While domestic violence happens to people in all walks of life regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, education, profession or socioeconomic status, there are statistical predictive indicators of domestic violence, probably the most important being exposure to it as a child.
More statistics on domestic violence.
3.3 Million: Estimated number of children in the U.S. each year that witness violence against their mother or female caretaker by a family member.
40-60: Percentage of men who abuse women who also abuse children.
1 in 5: Number of teenage girls who said they have been in a relationship where the boyfriend threatened violence or self-harm if a breakup was to occur.
85: Percentage of domestic violence victims who are women.
175,000: Number of workdays American employees miss each year on account of domestic violence.
40-70: Percentage of female murder victims in the U.S. who were killed by their husbands or boyfriends, often within an ongoing abusive relationship.