FACTS ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

 

-Women of all cultures, races, occupations, income levels, and ages are battered – by husbands, boyfriends, lovers and partners.

-White, Black, and Hispanic women all incur about the same rates of violence committed by an intimate partner.

-Approximately one-third of the men counseled for battering at Emerge (a nationally recognized batterers treatment program) are professional men who are well respected in their jobs and communities. These have included doctors, psychologists, lawyers, ministers, and business executives.

-Many women do leave abusive partners, more than 50%.

-Leaving a battering partner may be the most dangerous time in that relationship. Women are 70 times more likely to be killed in the two weeks after leaving than at any other time during the relationship.

-Social, economic, cultural, religious, or legal issues often keep battered women in an abusive relationship.
Many women want the violence, not the relationship to end. They may take many steps to try to stop the abuse; leaving the home may be their last resort.

-95% of domestic violence is reported by women – perpetrated against by their male partner.
When men are battered it is typically by their male intimate partner … battering occurs in gay and lesbian relationships at the same rate as heterosexual relationships – approximately 35%.

-80% of all violent crimes committed outside the home are committed by males … it is highly unlikely that women, generally peaceful and non-violent, would make up half of partner violence.

-Battering is the establishment of control and fear in a relationship through violence and other forms of abuse. The violence may not happen often, but it remains a hidden and constant terrorizing factor.

-More than 80% of male batterers are not physically aggressive towards any other adults in their lives. They solely assault their intimate partner. If battering were a mental illness or behavioral disorder batterers would assault others, in addition to their intimate partner.

-A battering incident is rarely an isolated occurrence; beatings escalate in frequency and intensity. Assault is a crime whether it is committed within or outside the family.