DOMESTIC ABUSE Facts & Sources
CDC Credible Surveys
A major source of statistical information about domestic abuse comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through an annual telephone survey called National Data on Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Violence, and Stalking (NISVS). This survey was developed in order to better describe and monitor the magnitude of these forms of violence in the United States.
Starting in 2010, NISVS has been collecting detailed information of adult women and men ages 18 and older in the United States, collecting data on past-year and lifetime experiences of violence. This survey tracks trends in intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual violence (SV), and stalking among women and men in the United States.
The NISVS 2010 Summary Report presents data from the first year of data collection, based on 16,507 completed telephone interviews (9,086 women and 7,421 men) in the general population sample. NISVS data is collected randomly, representative of each state.
Key Findings:
- IPV, SV, and stalking are widespread in the United States.
- Women are disproportionately impacted. They experienced high rates of severe IPV, rape, and stalking, and long-term chronic disease and other negative health impacts, such as post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
Statistics
- 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence (e.g. beating, burning, strangling) by an intimate partner in their lifetime. (1
- In the United States, an average of 20 adults experience intimate partner physical violence every minute. (2
- 1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner. (2
- On a typical day, domestic violence hotlines nationwide receive over 20,000 calls.(3
- Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime. (4
SOURCES
1) Breiding MJ, Smith SG, Basile KC, Walters ML, Chen J, Merrick MT. Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization—National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011. MMWR 2014; 63(SS-8): 1-18.
2) Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J. & Stevens, M. (2011). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2010 summary report. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf.
3) National Network to End Domestic Violence (2017). Domestic violence counts national summary. Retrieved from https://nnedv.org/mdocsposts/census_2016_handout_national-summary/
4) Truman, J. L. & Morgan, R. E. (2014). Nonfatal domestic violence, 2003-2012. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ndv0312.pdf.