• Approximately 1.5 million women are raped or physically assaulted by an intimate partner each year in the US.  Because many victims are victimized more than once, approximately 4.8 intimate partner rapes and physical assaults against women are committed annually. 
  - US Department of Justice, 2000
  
  
•  Intimate violence is primarily a crime against women -- in 1998, females were the victims in 72% of intimate murders and the victims of about 85% of non-lethal intimate violence.
  - US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002
  
  
• Violence by an intimate partner accounts for about 22% of reported violent crime against women and only 3% of reported violence against men. 
  - US Dept of Justice, 2000
  
  
• A woman is often assaulted by the same intimate partner.  The National Violence Against Women Survey found that women who were assaulted averaged seven physical assaults by the same partner. 
  - US Dept of Justice 2000
  
  
• Women age 16-24 experienced the highest per capita rates of intimate violence (19.6 victimizations per 1,000 women).
  - Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002
  
  
•  Between 12% and 35% of teenagers have experienced some form of violence - from pushing and shoving to hitting - in a dating relationship.
  - Cohall, Alwyn; Cohall, Rene; Bannister, Hope; Northridge, Mary, 1999.
  
  
• Pregnancy is a risk factor for physical abuse.  Several studies have shown a range of incidence of battering during pregnancy from 8% to 26%. 
  - JAMA, 1987
  
  
• Of the 4.8 million intimate partner rapes and physical assaults committed against women each year, approximately 2 million will result in an injury to the victim.  More than 550,000 will require medical treatment. 
  - US Dept of Justice 2000
  
  
• Domestic violence is the cause of more visits to emergency departments by women that any other cause of injury.  It is estimated that as many as 30% of the women treated in emergency rooms are there because of physical abuse by a current or former domestic partner. 
  - MMWR, 1993
  
  
• In 2000, there were approximately 60,000 domestic violence calls to law enforcement in LA County. 
  - Los Angeles Almanac, 2002
  
  
• Most intimate partner violence victimizations are not reported to the police. 
  - US Dept of Justice, 2000
  
  
• Abused women have a higher rate of miscarriage, stillbirth, premature labor, low birth weight babies and fetal injury. 
  - Surgeon General 1992
  
  
• In 1998, over 1,800 murders in the US were attributed to intimate partners.  Three quarters of the victims were women, accounting for 33% of all murders of women and 4% of all murders of men.
  - US Dept of Justice, 2000
  
  
• The sharpest decrease in number of intimate murders has been for black male victims. A 74% percent decrease in the number of black men murdered between 1976 and 1998 occurred.
  - Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002
  
  
• One out of four American women becomes a victim of domestic violence during her lifetime
  - Color lines Magazine, 2002
  
  
• Each year, nearly 10 thousand women and children become permanently hearing impaired due to being repeatedly struck on or near the ear by an intimate partner. 
  - National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; National Institutes of Health, National Strategic Research Plan (1989)
  
  
• According to a U.S. study of violence between intimate partners, Latinas experience about the same level of physical assaults, and stalking as do Caucasian women, but report a 2.2% higher level of rape.  Approximately 7.9% of Latinas will be raped, 21.2% will be physically assaulted, and 4.8% will be stalked by a spouse, boyfriend or ex-boyfriend during their lifetime.
  - US Dept of Justice, 2002
  
  
• While relationship violence happens to women of every race and ethnic background, African-American women are physically assaulted at a rate that is 35% higher than Caucasian women, and about 2-1/2 times the rate of women of other races.
  - National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2000

If you or someone you know has concerns or questions about domestic violence, please call the following number for information, assistance, and local agency referral: 

The National Domestic Violence Hotline:
1-800-799-7233, TTY: 1-800-787-3224