65 Disturbing Domestic Violence Statistics

Domestic violence is defined as the willful intimidation, physical assault or battery, sexual assault, or other abusive behavior that is perpetrated by one intimate partner upon another. It is often part of a systemic pattern of power and control that can include physical or sexual violence, threats, psychological abuse, or emotional abuse.

Although the frequency of domestic violence can vary from household to household, as can the severity of each incident, the outcomes are often cumulative. Every community is affected by this issue, no matter what their gender identity, race, religious orientation, sexual orientation, nationality, or economic status may be. It results in injuries, trauma, and unfortunately, even death.

That’s why these domestic violence statistics must become an important part of our knowledge base. Unless we act to stop domestic violence, it is an issue that has consequences which may span across generations, lasting for a lifetime.

Statistics on Domestic Violence

1. On average, about 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. Over the course of 12 months, this equates to 10 million people. (NCADV)

2. 1 in 3 women have been victims of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime. (NCADV)

3. 1 in 4 men have been victims of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime. (NCADV)

4. 1 in 4 women have been the victim of a severe act of physical violence by an intimate partner at some point in their life. (NCADV)

5. 1 in 7 men have been the victim of a severe act of physical violence by an intimate partner at some point in their life.

6. 1 in 7 women have been stalked by an intimate partner at some point, to the point where they felt fearful that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed. 1 in 18 men have had a similar experience. (NCADV)

7. On the typical day, there are more than 20,000 phone calls that are placed to domestic violence help lines across the United States. (NCADV)

8. When a gun is present during a domestic violence situation, the risk of a homicide increases by 500%. 19% of domestic violence incidents involve a weapon of some sort. (NCADV)

9. Women between the ages of 18-24 are the most likely demographic to be abused by an intimate partner. (NCADV)

10. Only 1 out of 3 people who are injured during a domestic violence incident will ever receive medical care for their injuries. (NCADV)

11. Almost half of all rape victims are raped by someone who is an acquaintance, including 45% of women and 29% of men being raped by an intimate partner. (NCADV)

12. 1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, with 90% of these children being eyewitnesses to it. (NCADV)

13. The cost of intimate partner violence costs more than $8 billion each year. Up to 60% of the victims of domestic violence lose their jobs due to reasons that stem from the abuse that they receive at home. (NCADV)

14. From 2003-2008, 142 women were murdered at their place of employment by their domestic abuser. This accounted for 78% of women killed in the workplace over this period of time. (NCADV)

15. A woman is assaulted in the United States by an intimate partner, on average, every 9 seconds during the day. This means that domestic violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime. (NCADV)

16. Women who are abused by intimate partners are more vulnerable to contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections due to forced intercourse or prolonged exposure to stressful situations. (NCADV)

17. 3 women are murdered every day in the United States by either a current or former male partner of theirs. (Huffington Post)

18. More than 38 million women have experienced physical intimate partner violence in their lifetime. Women with disabilities are 40% more likely to experience intimate partner violence, especially severe violence. (APA)

19. In 2011, 1,509 women were murdered by men that they knew. 926 of these women were killed by an intimate partner and 264 of them were killed by their intimate partner during an argument they were having. Since 2003, 18,000 women have been killed by men in domestic violence disputes. (Huffington Post)

20. For every minute that passes, on average, there are 20 people who are victims of intimate partner violence in the United States. (CDC)

21. Men who are exposed to domestic violence as children are up to 4 times more likely to perpetrate the same violent acts as adults than men who did not experience abuse as children. (WHO)

22. The number of hours that women lose every year because of domestic violence incidents is the equivalent of 32,000 full-time jobs in the United States. (CDC)

23. The number of mental health care visits due to intimate partner violence every year tops 18 million. (Huffington Post)

24. The average cost of care for a women requiring emergency care after a domestic violence incident is $948. When men require emergency care after a domestic violence incident, their average cost is $387. (CAEPV)

25. Intimate partner violence is the leading cause of female homicide and injury-related deaths during a pregnancy in the United States. (APA)

26. 40% of men who identify as being gay or bisexual will experience at least one incident of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. (Huffington Post)

27. 1 in 2 women who identify as being gay or bisexual will experience domestic violence in their lifetime, but it is not necessarily by an intimate partner. (Huffington Post)

28. 81% of women who are being stalked by a current or a former male intimate partner are also being physically abused by that person. (Huffington Post)

29. Women who are the victims of domestic violence are 8 times more likely to be killed by an intimate partner if there happens to be a firearm in the home. (Huffington Post)

30. The primary reason why domestic violence survivors say that they stay or return to an abusive relationship is because the abuser is the person who controls the money supply. This prevents them from having the financial resources to break free. Financial abuse occurs in 98% of all domestic violence cases. (Huffington Post)

31. African-American/Black women experience intimate partner violence at a rate that is 35% higher than Caucasian/White women. (University of Minnesota)

32. 21 members of the LGBTQIA+ community were murdered by their intimate partners in 2013. 50% of them were people of color. This is the highest documented level of domestic violence homicide in this community in the history of data reporting. (AVP)

33. A transgender person of color is 2.6 times more likely to become the victim of intimate partner violence than an individual who does not identify as being with the LGBTQIA+ community. (Huffington Post)

34. Domestic violence is the third-leading cause of homelessness amongst families in the United States. (National Coalition for Homelessness)

35. A woman who leaves her abusive partner is 70 times more likely to be murdered than at any other time in that relationship. (Huffington Post)

36. Only 1 in 4 physical assaults against women that are caused by an intimate partner are every reported to law enforcement officials over the course of any given year. (Huffington Post)

37. The number of women killed by a current or former male partner is nearly double the number of soldiers lost in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq over the same 11-year period of time. (Huffington Post)

38. Research suggests that family violence is up to 4 times higher in the law enforcement community than in the general population, while it is less common among NFL players than the general population. (The Atlantic)

39. An estimated 13% of women and 6% of men have experience some form of sexual coercion in their lifetime. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men have also experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact. (CDC)

40. Almost 80% of women who have been raped had their first incident of sexual violence occur before the age of 25. Over 40% of women experienced their first completed rape before the age of 18. (CDC)

41. About 28% of men who were rape victims experienced their first rape when they were 10 years old or younger. (CDC)

42. The most common form of stalking that occurs for women and men is through unwanted phone calls, voice messages, or text messages – happening in 3 out of every 4 incidents. (CDC)

43. More than half of female victims and one-third of male victims indicated that they were stalked at least once before the age of 25. 20% of girls and 1 in 14 boys say that they experienced stalking between the ages of 11-17. (CDC)

44. More than 1 in 3 women have experienced multiple forms of rape, stalking, or physical violence from their intimate partner. (CDC)

45. 92% of male victims of domestic violence experienced physical violence alone. (CDC)

46. 9.4% of women in the United States report that they have been raped at least once by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Another 17% of women and 8% of men state that they have experience sexual violence other than rape by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime. (CDC)

47. 48% of men and women have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime. (CDC)

48. 30% of women and 10% of men that have experienced a violent act by an intimate partner have had at least one impact occur due to that behavior, including PTSD symptoms, needing health care, seeking housing services, or missing at least one day of work or school. (CDC)

49. Multiracial women in the United States are the most likely to experience domestic violence at some point in their lives. 33.5% of women who identify as being multiracial have reported a rape victimization in their lifetime. (CDC)

50. Native American women (26.9%) are also more likely than Hispanics, African-Americans/Blacks, or Caucasian/Whites to be victimized through domestic violence. (CDC)

51. Across all types of violence, the majority of both female and male victims reported experiencing domestic violence from one perpetrator. Most female victims reported that their perpetrators where men. Men are also more likely to victimize other men in a domestic setting. (CDC)

52. Nearly half of all stalking victimizations against men were perpetrated by other men. (CDC)

53. About 1 in 20 women experienced a sexual violence victimization other than rape by a perpetrator in the last 12 months. (CDC)

54. About 4% of women and a little more than 1% of men report that they have been stalked by someone in the past 12 months. (CDC)

55. Being the victim of domestic violence increases the likelihood of suffering from frequent headaches, chronic pain, insomnia, and activity limitations. There is also a greater chance of suffering from poor mental and physical health in men when compared to the general population. Women who are the victims of domestic violence are more likely to suffer from IBS, asthma, and diabetes when compared to the general population. (CDC)

56. In 2012, there were 16,695 requests for shelter from Oregon victims of domestic violence that went unmet. (DVRC)

57. Anticipated budget cuts to support programs that help victims of domestic violence could result in over 526,000 people not receiving the services they need to free themselves from a violent intimate partner. (DVRC)

58. Nearly 1.5 million high school students in the United States experience physical abuse from a dating partner in any given year. (Love is Respect)

59. 10% of high school students have been purposely hit, slapped, or hurt by their dating partner. (Love is Respect)

60. 33% of adolescents in the United States have been the victim of domestic violence from a dating partner, making it the most common type of youth violence. (Love is Respect)

61. 43% of dating college women report experiencing violent and abusive dating behaviors. (Love is Respect)

62. 36% of dating college students have given a dating partner their computer, online access, or passwords to social media or email and experienced digital dating abuse because of that action. (Love is Respect)

63. 57% of college students state that domestic violence in a dating relationship is difficult to identify. 58% of college students say that they wouldn’t know how to help someone who was experiencing domestic violence if they encountered it. (Love is Respect)

64. Half of youth who have been victims of dating violence or a rape attempt suicide, compared to 12.5% of non-abused girls and 5.4% of non-abused boys. (Love is Respect)

65. Only 1 in 3 teens who were in a violent relationship ever told anyone about the abuse. This has led to 81% of parents to say that teen dating violence is either not an issue or admit that they don’t know if it could be an issue.

Domestic violence occurs every day. It often occurs in the shadows, but we can see its results if we’re willing to look for it. When someone is trapped in a cycle of violence, it can be difficult to choose to be a hero, even when they know it is the right thing to do. That means it is up to us to identify those who are suffering from intimate partner violence so they can be connected to resources that will protect them.

No one deserves to be abused. These domestic violence statistics should prove once and for all that this is an issue we must all face together so it is no longer a quiet epidemic.