Facts And Statistics

Domestic Violence

• It is now estimated that at least one out of three high school and college-aged youth experience abuse at some point in their relationships. It can range from a single episode to chronic abuse. Four to five women are killed each day by their partner.

• 70 percent of men who batter and 38 percent of battered women come from a violent home.

• In homes of domestic violence, 70 percent of the children are abused or neglected.

• Among all murders of women across the country in 2000, 33 percent were killed by an intimate partner.

• Only 20 percent of violent crimes are perpetrated by strangers. Half is committed by the person’s partner.

• Battering is the single major cause of injury to women — more than injuries caused by muggings, rape, and car accidents combined. It is the second leading cause of death to women age 20 to 45.

• U.S. businesses are estimated to lose about $5 million each year due to abuse-related absenteeism.

• An abusive incident rarely occurs only once; abuse usually increases in frequency and severity over time.

• Chronic abusers display a typical pattern following physical abuse episodes. They tend to be apologetic, on their best behavior, promising that it will never happen again. This is usually exactly the behavior the victim has hoped for and often causes her to decide to remain in the relationship.

• Repeated abusers seldom change their abusive responses spontaneously. It is not the victim’s job to change this aspect of his personality. He must seek professional assistance if he is to change.

• Victims of especially severe abuse often “identify with the abuser” to survive. This means she will actually begin to agree with the criticisms and perspectives of the abuser while her own personality, opinions, and views fade to the background. This is a serious set of psychological events called the “Stockholm Syndrome.

Sexual Assault/Rape

• In the United States, every minute there are 1.3 rapes of adult women.

• Over 10,000 Girls are raped daily in Nigeria.

• Nearly 1.2 million women are forcibly raped by their current or former boyfriend one or more times each year.

• One in four girls and one in seven boys will be sexually victimized before their 18th birthday.

• One in four female college students has been the victim of rape or attempted rape.

• The majority of sexual assault survivors know their attackers.

• Sexual assault survivors can be of any age, male or female, any race or ethnicity, straight or gay, disabled or not.

• Rape is an act of violence, NOT sexual gratification. The motive is not the victim’s appearance, but a need to exert power and control over the victim and humiliate her/him.

• In addition to physical injuries, survivors of rape often suffer long-lasting emotional effects. These can include sleep disturbances, fear, distrust, and depression.

• Research has shown that sexual assault survivors have an increased risk of substance abuse.

• The rate of sexual assault is increasing four times faster than the overall crime rate.

• Rape is the most common and also the most under-reported violent crime in the world today.

• In 90 percent of rapes, the victim and the assailant are the same race.

• 84 percent of all sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance of the victim.

• 57 percent of all sexual assaults occur during a date.

• 43 percent of college-aged men admit using coercive behavior to have sex, including ignoring a woman’s protest and/or using physical aggression. (Bureau of Justice)

• 14 percent of married women said their husbands had used physical force or a threat to try to have sex with them. (American Medical Association)

• Almost half of the victims of acquaintance rape tell no one of the attacks.

• A woman’s risk of being sexually assaulted by an acquaintance is four times higher than her risk of being similarly victimized by a stranger.

• Sexual assault affects women of all ages; however, most rape, and specifically acquaintance rape, happens to women between the ages of 15 and 25.

Stalking

• 1 in 12 women will be stalked in her lifetime.

• 77 percent of women know their stalker.

• 87 percent of stalkers are men.

• 59 percent of female victims are stalked by an intimate partner.

• 81 percent of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also physically assaulted by that partner.

• 31 percent of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also sexually assaulted by that partner.

• 73 percent of intimate partner stalkers verbally threaten the victims with physical violence, and almost 46 percent of victims experience one or more violent incidents by the stalker.

• The average duration of stalking is 1.8 years.

• If stalking involves intimate partners, the average duration of stalking increases to 2.2 years.

• 61 percent of stalkers make unwanted phone calls; 33 percent send or leave unwanted letters or items; 29 percent vandalize property, and 9 percent kill or threaten to kill a family pet.

• 28 percent of female victims obtain a protective order. 69 percent of female victims have the protection order violated.

• 13 percent of college women were stalked during one six- to nine-month period.

• 80 percent of campus stalking victims know their stalkers.

• Three in 10 college women report being injured emotionally or psychologically from being stalked.

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