SHOCKING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STATISTICS

By Alanna Vagianos

 

The number of American troops killed in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2012 was 6,488. The number of American women who were murdered by current or ex-male partners during that time was 11,766. That's nearly double the amount of casualties lost during the war.

 

Women are much more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence, with 85 percent of domestic abuse victims being women and 15 percent being men. Too many women have been held captive by domestic violence – whether through physical abuse, financial abuse, emotional abuse or a combination of all three.

 

We are inundated with news stories about domestic violence, from athletes beating their significant others in public elevators or in their own homes to celebrities publicly abusing their girlfriends. This problem is not one that will go away quickly or quietly.

 

As Domestic Violence Awareness Month comes to an end, discussions about intimate partner abuse and its horrible repercussions should not. In an attempt to illustrate the gravity of abuse all genders (but largely women) face in the U.S., we rounded up 30 statistics on domestic violence.

Domestic violence is not a singular incident, it's an insidious problem deeply rooted in our culture – and these numbers prove that.

 

=  The number of women murdered every day by a current or former male partner in the U.S. = 3

= The number of women who have experienced physical intimate partner violence in their lifetimes. = 38,028,000

= The number of women in the U.S. who experience physical violence by an intimate partner every year. = 4,774,000

=  The number of women murdered by men they knew in 2011. Of the 1,509 women, 926 were killed by an intimate partner, and 264 of those 
were killed by an intimate partner during an argument. =  1,509

= The number of women who have been killed by men in domestic violence disputes since 2003. = 18,000

= The number of women who will be victims of severe violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes. = 1 in 4

= The number of men who will be victims of severe violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes. = 1 in 7

= The number of days of paid work women lose every year because of the abuse perpetrated against them by current or former male partners. This loss is equivalent to over 32,000 full-time jobs. = 8,000,000

= The percentage of women in physically abusive relationships who are raped and/or assaulted during the relationship. = 40-45

= The number of mental health care visits due to intimate partner violence every year. = 18,500,000

= The average cost of emergency care for intimate partner violence-related incidents for women is $948. The average cost for men is $387. [Huffington Post – October 23, 2014]