Domestic Violence: Statistics

• Every 9 seconds a woman is battered in the United States
• Nearly one third of American women (31%) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.
• Battering is the greatest single cause of injury to women in the U.S. more than by car accidents, stranger rapes and muggings combined.
• Each year, 3.3 million children witness their mother being beaten.
• 70% of men who abuse their female partners also abuse their children.
• Forty percent of teenage girls ages 14 to 17 report knowing someone their age who has been beaten by a boyfriend.
• Battered women are four to five times more likely than non-battered women to require psychiatric treatment.
• Family violence costs the nation form $5 to $10 billion annually in medical expenses.
• In 92% of all domestic violence incidents, crimes are committed by men against women.
• The F.B.I. estimates that only bout 10% of domestic violence is reported to the police.
• 60% of battered women are beaten while they are pregnant.
• Up to 50% of all homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence.