Domestic Violence Statistics Vital to Understanding How to Help Abuse Victims

Looking at domestic violence statistics can be quite disturbing. However, by doing so, it helps all of us understand the issue better and allows us to come up with solutions to abuse.

Any kind of violence between family members, spouses and partners is domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is usually brought on by high stress and behaviors. As many as one in every four women have been a victim. Various domestic violence statistics follow.

From a study held in 2000 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with the National Institute of Justice, Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Violence found that as many as 3 million to 6 million women nationally are abused physically by their boyfriend or husband every year.

Every year 85% of victims are women abused by their partners. Men make up 15% of domestic abuse victims every year.

This type of abuse is all around, but it is not talked about. As many as 74% of people know someone who has or is going through one form of domestic abuse. And 30% of people know of someone who has been abused physically by their partner within the last year.

Unfortunately, domestic abuse can lead to death. In domestic homicides one in every four is a man, meaning that three out of four homicides are women. And these men and women were killed by their intimate partners.

In 2000 1,247 women were murdered by their partner and 400 men were killed by their partner. Of all the murders of women, 30% are domestic abuse homicides. And of men murdered, 5% are domestic abuse homicides. Most often, domestic abuse homicides are between a husband and wife, but the number of homicides between boyfriends and girlfriends has been rising in recent years.

Every year, the cost of health care related to this type of violence has been on the rise. The health care that people receive due to domestic abuse can be for mental health and medical care. As high as $4.1 to $5.8 billion dollars is spent on mental health care services and medical care. On top of medical care, lost wages have exceeded $1.8 billion dollars annually due to domestic violence.

Of female victims, half report physical injury. Though 50% of female victims receive injuries only 20% seek out medical attention. Of the women who received medical attention 37% received their injuries on a recurring basis from a boyfriend or spouse.

These domestic violence statistics are not limited to husbands and wives. 20% of female teenagers have been abused either physically or sexually from their boyfriend. One in five teenagers has been victim of physical abuse while in a serious relationship by their partner.

And 14% of teenagers have been threatened by their girlfriend or boyfriend, and often the threat is about breaking up and forcing the other to stay in the abusive relationship. Studies have shown that the more serious a relationship gets and the longer it gets there is a higher potential for violence.

Regarding sexual assaults, 70% are date rape involving women in their teens to college years. 38% of these women are aged 14 to 17 years old. One in every five women has been sexually assaulted. And 75% of women who have been sexually abused since they were 18 years old were abused by a husband or an intimate partner.

Looking at domestic violence statistics reveals that children are often victims of domestic abuse. Men who assault their wives are 50% more likely to assault their children. Every year as many as 3.3 to 10 million children witness domestic violence.