The definition of domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another.
Domestic violence is not something that you believe will ever happen to you or anyone you know.
On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.
One in four women and one in nine men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contact sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking with impacts such as injury, fearfulness, post-traumatic stress disorder, use of victim services, and contraction of sexually transmitted diseases.
One in three women and one in four men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
One in seven women and one in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner.
One in 10 women have been raped by an intimate partner.
One in four women and one in seven men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
One in seven women and one in 18 men have been stalked by an intimate partner during their lifetime to the point in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed.
On a typical day, there are more than 20,000 phone calls placed to domestic violence hotlines nationwide.
The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%.
Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime. Women between the ages of 18-24 are most commonly abused by an intimate partner. Nineteen percent of domestic violence involves a weapon.
Domestic victimization is correlated with a higher rate of depression and suicidal behavior.
Only 34% of people who are injured by intimate partners receive medical care for their injuries.
Rape
One in five women and one in 71 men in the United States has been raped in their lifetime.
Almost half of female (46.7%) and male (44.9%) victims of rape in the United States were raped by an acquaintance. Of these, 45.4% of female rape victims and 29% of male rape victims were raped by an intimate partner.
Stalking
Nineteen point three million women and 5.1 million men in the United States have been stalked in their lifetime. Sixty point eight percent of female stalking victims and 43.5% men reported being stalked by a current or former intimate partner.
Homicide
A study of intimate partner homicides found that 20% of victims were not the intimate partners themselves, but family members, friends, neighbors, persons who intervened, law enforcement responders, or bystanders.
Seventy-two percent of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner; 94% of the victims of these murder suicides are female.
Children and Domestic Violence
One in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to this violence.
Economic Impact
Victims of intimate partner violence lose a total of 8.0 million days of paid work each year.
The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $8.3 billion per year.
Between 21-60% of victims of intimate partner violence lose their jobs due to reasons stemming from the abuse.
Between 2003 and 2008, 142 women were murdered in their workplace by their abuser, 78% of women killed in the workplace during this timeframe.
Physical/Mental Impact
Women abused by their intimate partners are more vulnerable to contracting HIV or other STI’s due to forced intercourse or prolonged exposure to stress.
Studies suggest that there is a relationship between intimate partner violence and depression and suicidal behavior.
At Dove Project, Inc., we are working to help reduce these numbers and show that there is help available if needed. If you have any questions or concerns about what might or might not be domestic violence, please reach out to us.(325) 372-HELP.