Domestic violence facts

National*

Family violence occurs in 1 of 3 families; nearly 3.3 million children between the ages of 3 and 17 have experience or witnessed abuse in their families.
Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Study, 2001

In a national survey of more than 6,000 American families, 50 percent of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.
Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Study, 2001

As many as 50 percent of domestic violence victims lose a job due in part to domestic violence, and almost 50 percent of sexual assault survivors lose their jobs or are forced to quit in the aftermath of the assaults.
Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Study, 2001

More than half of women on welfare have been victims of domestic violence.
Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Study, 2001

Women of all geographic, demographic and ethnic groups were equally vulnerable to intimate partner violence.
Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Study, 2001

During the six months following an episode of domestic violence, 32 percent of battered women are victimized again.
Bureau of Justice Statistics

Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.
The Commonwealth Fund

Approximately one in five female high school students reports being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner.
Jay G. Silverman, PhD; Anita Raj, PhD; Lorelei A. Mucci, MPH; and Jeanne E. Hathaway, MD, MPH, “Dating Violence Against Adolescent Girls and Associated Substance Use, Unhealthy Weight Control, Sexual Risk Behavior, Pregnancy, and Suicidality,” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 286, No. 5, 2001

Women of all races are about equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate partner.
Bureau of Justice Statistics, Violence Against Women

In the United States, a woman is more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped, or killed by a male partner than any other assailant.
“Resource Availability for Women at Risk” A.Browne and K.R. Williams

Battered women are 4-5 times more likely than non-battered women to require psychiatric treatment.
“Violence Against Women

More than five times as many women were murdered by an intimate acquaintance (605) than by a stranger (113) in the year 2000. Additionally, while firearm homicides involving male victims were intra-gender, 95 percent of female firearm homicide victims were murdered by a male.
Data from the 2000 FBI Supplementary Homicide Report. Analysis performed by the Violence Policy Center

An analysis of female domestic homicides (a woman murdered by a spouse, intimate acquaintance, or close relative) showed that prior domestic violence in the household made a woman 14.6 more times likely, and having one or more guns in the home made a woman 7.2 times more likely, to be the victim of such a homicide.
James E. Bailey, MD, MPH, et al., “Risk Factors for Violence Death of Women in the Home,” Archives of Internal Medicine 157, no.7 (1997)

Nearly 25 percent of surveyed women said they were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner or date at some time in the lifetime.
U.S. Department of Justice, “Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence.” Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, July 2000

Approximately 4.8 million intimate partner rapes and physical assaults are perpetrated against U.S. women annually, and approximately 2.9 million intimate partner physical assaults are committed against U.S. men annually.
U.S. Department of Justice, “Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence.” Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, July 2000

Violence against women by intimates is often accompanied by abusive and controlling behavior.
U.S. Department of Justice, “Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence.” Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, July 2000

Having a verbally abusive partner was the variable most likely to predict that a woman would be victimized by an intimate partner.
U.S. Department of Justice, “Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence.” Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, July 2000

41.5 percent of the women who were physically assaulted by an intimate partner were injured during their most recent assault.
U.S. Department of Justice, “Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence.” Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, July 2000

Researchers have estimated the annual cost of domestic violence to the nation at $67 billion in labor force, child well-being, housing, social services, health care and criminal justice.
L.Laurence and R. Spalter-Roth

Non-lethal intimate violence results in financial losses to women victims that are conservatively estimated to be $150 million per year.
Greenfield L., et al

78 percent of Human Resource directors identify domestic violence as a substantial employee problem.
American Institute on Domestic Violence, 2001

Employers lose between $3 billion and $5 billion every year in absenteeism, lower productivity, higher turnover and health and safety costs associated with battered workers.
American Institute on Domestic Violence, 2001

Over 1,750,000 workdays are lost each year due to domestic violence.
American Institute on Domestic Violence, 2001

Homicide is the leading cause of death to women in the workplace.
American Institute on Domestic Violence, 2001

Each year an estimated 3.3 million children witness violence by family members against their mothers or female caretakers.
American Bar Association


*facts taken from the National Domestic Violence Hotline Web site


Minnesota

In 1999, the Minneapolis Police Department received 18,501 domestic violence calls. 519 of those involved weapons.
Minneapolis Police Department

Thirty-two women and twelve children were murdered in Minnesota in 2001 as the result of domestic violence.
Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women 2001 Femicide Report, compiled from news accounts by the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women

Domestic violence victims account for over 25 percent of all violent crime victims in Minnesota.
Minnesota Planning

There were 20,189 calls to 9-1-1 in Minneapolis in 2000 identified as “domestic” calls. Of those, 450 were “domestic fight with weapons” calls.
Minneapolis Police Department

In Hennepin County, almost 5,000 restraining orders were filed in the year 2000, including 3,157 Orders for Protection and 1,701 Harassment Orders.
Hennepin County Court Administration

In data reflecting over 90 percent of all Minnesota hospitals (clinics not included), 1,378 victims of domestic violence and 1,002 victims of sex abuse were treated as patients.
Minnesota Department of Health

In Hennepin County, almost 5,000 restraining orders were filed in 2001, including 3,138 Orders for Protection and 1,807 Harassment Orders.
Hennepin County Court Administration

In 2001, nearly 14,000 Orders for Protection were filed in Minnesota.
Supreme Court Administration