Statistics and Facts

Domestic Violence:

Statistics

• Half of all women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. This applies to deaf, hard of hearing and deaf blind women. (1 in 2 women)

• Approximately 1.3 million women experience physical assault by intimate partner each year

• Studies estimate that between 70%-85% of cases of abuse against women with disabilities go unreported

• Women with disabilities have a 40% greater risk of violence than those without disabilities.

• Females who are 18-24 years of age are at the greatest risk for intimate partner violence.

Facts

• Domestic violence affects all racial, social, ethnic, economic, and religious groups and affects each group with equal frequency.

• The most dangerous time for a survivor is when she is leaving, or the abusive partner believes she is leaving.

• Alcohol, drugs and other substance use do not cause domestic violence.  The need for power and control over their partner is the root of this type of violence.

• Women are more victims of domestic violence than victims of burglary, muggings and other physical crimes combined.

Sexual Violence

 Statistics

• 1 in 6 women, and one in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape.

• Approximately 7.8 million women have been raped by an intimate partner in at some point in their lives.

• Studies have estimated that 80% of women with disabilities have been sexually assaulted.

• As many as 80% of all assaults involve acquaintances. The assailant may be someone you know intimately (partner, coworker, friend, roommate or family member).  75% of all assaults are planned in advanced.

Facts

• Sexual assault is a crime of violence, not a crime of passion and lust.

• In majority of sexual assaults, the victim and perpetrator are of the same race.

• Being under the influence or intoxicated may make a victim more vulnerable for an assault, but nothing and no one is responsible for the assault but the perpetrator.

• A wife can be sexually assaulted by her husband if she did not consent to the sexual activity.

Stalking

Statistics

• One in 12 women and one in 45 men are stalked in their lifetimes.

• 1.4 million people are stalked every year.

• 81% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also physically assaulted by that partner; 31% are also sexually assaulted by that partner.

• 74% of stalking victims are between the age of 18 and 39 years old.

Facts

• Victim is not to be blamed for stalker’s behavior.

• Stalking is unpredictable and dangerous, and can result in death.

• Stalking is a crime.

Adapted from:

• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

• Office of Violence Against Women of the U.S Department of Justice

• The National for Victims of Crime