Facts About Domestic Violence

from The Haven of RCS Domestic Violence Center

A woman is beaten every 12-15 seconds in the U.S. (FBI).
A woman is five times more likely to be attacked by her own partner than by a stranger (Department of Justice).
Each year, an estimated 4-6 million women of all races and classes are battered by a spouse or intimate partner in the U.S. (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence).
In Florida, a person is killed due to domestic violence every 42 hours (Governor's Task Force On Domestic Violence).
95-98% of battering victims are women (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). 31% of female homicide victims are killed by their partners (U.S. Department of Justice).
Each year, more than one million women seek medical attention for injuries inflicted by partners. Battered women are often severely injured - 22 to 35% of women who visit medical emergency rooms are there for injuries related to ongoing partner abuse (Boston Bar Journal).
Women who leave their batterers are at a 75% greater risk of being killed by the batterer than those who stay (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). Half of the homicides of female spouses and partners were committed by men after separation from batterers (Task Force On Child Abuse and Neglect).
50-60% of the children in homes where the mother is being battered, are also being abused, at a rate 1500 times that of children in homes where there is no battering. 3.3 million children will witness domestic violence in this country (U.S. ) this year (Child Witness To Violence Project).
Approximately one-third of men counseled for battering at Emerge, in Boston, Massachusetts, are professional men who are well respected in their jobs and their communities. These have included doctors, psychologists, lawyers, ministeres and business executives (Massachusetts Coalition Of Battered Women Service Groups).
Each year, medical expenses from domestic violence total at least $3 to $5 billion. Businesses forfeit another $100 million in lost wages, sick leave, absenteeism and non-productivity (Colorado Domestic Violence Coalition).
10 times more women are annually victimized by domestic violence than diagnosed with breast cancer (New England Journal Of Medicine).
Most murders of intimates are committed with firearms. Over 60% of all murder victims known to have been killed by intimates were shot to death. Over 3/4 of the firearms used to kill intimates were handguns (FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports).
73% of batterers were abused as children and 60% of boys who witness violence in the home grow up to abuse their adult mates (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence).