What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic Violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence.
Other terms for domestic violence include intimate partner violence, battering, relationship abuse, spousal abuse, or family violence.
Who is Most Likely to Suffer from Domestic Abuse or Become a Victim of Domestic Violence?
Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, income, or other factors.
Women and men can be victims of domestic violence.
How Many Men are Domestic Violence Victims?
Men are victims of nearly 3 million physical assaults in the USA.
How Often Does Domestic Violence Occur?
1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime.
Why Does Domestic Abuse Happen?
No victim is to blame for any occurrence of domestic abuse or violence.
While there is no direct cause or explanation why domestic violence happens, it is caused by the abuser or perpetrator.
When and Where Does Domestic Violence Occur?
Domestic violence is most likely to take place between 6 pm and 6 am.
More than 60% of domestic violence incidents happen at home.
What Happens to Victims of Domestic Violence?
Domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness among families, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
At least 1/3 of the families using New York City’s family shelter system are homeless due to domestic violence.
Domestic Violence in America: General Statistics and Facts
Women ages 20 to 24 are at greatest risk of becoming victims of domestic violence.
More than 4 million women experience physical assault and rape by their partners.
1 in 3 female homicide victims are murdered by their current or former partner every year.
What are the Effects of Domestic Violence on Children?
More than 3 million children witness domestic violence in their homes every year.
Children who live in homes where there is domestic violence also suffer abuse or neglect at high rates (30% to 60%).
Children exposed to domestic violence at home are more likely to have health problems, including becoming sick more often, having frequent headaches or stomachaches, and being more tired and lethargic.
Children are more likely to intervene when they witness severe violence against a parent – which can place a child at great risk for injury or even death.
What are the Effects of Domestic Violence on Mental Health?
Domestic violence victims face high rates of depression, sleep disturbances, anxiety, flashbacks, and other emotional distress.
Domestic violence contributes to poor health for many survivors including chronic conditions such as heart disease or gastrointestinal disorders.
Most women brought to emergency rooms due to domestic violence were socially isolated and had few social and financial resources.
What is the Economic Cost of Domestic Violence?
Domestic violence costs more than $37 billion a year in law enforcement involvement, legal work, medical and mental health treatment, and lost productivity at companies.
What Happens if Domestic Violence Victims Do Not Receive Help?
Without help, girls who witness domestic violence are more vulnerable to abuse as teens and adults.
Without help, boys who witness domestic violence are far more likely to become abusers of their partners and/or children as adults, thus continuing the cycle of violence in the next generation.
#1 FACT: Most domestic violence incidents are never reported.
Help change the facts. Speak up, speak out, and make a difference for victims of domestic violence.