Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2010

• NCJ Number: 239203
• Author(s): Shannan M. Catalano, Ph.D.
• Date Published: November 2012
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Series: BJS Special Reports
• Agencies: BJS
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This Bureau of Justice Statistics special report investigates intimate partner violence trends between 1994 and 2010.

Abstract

Presents data on nonfatal intimate partner violence among U.S. households from 1993 to 2010. Intimate partner violence includes rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault by a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend. This report presents trends in intimate partner violence by sex, and examines intimate partner violence against women by the victim’s age, race and Hispanic origin, marital status, and household composition. Data are from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which collects information on nonfatal crimes reported and not reported to the police from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households.

• From 1994 to 2010, the overall rate of intimate partner violence in the United States declined by 64%, from 9.8 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older to 3.6 per 1,000.
• Intimate partner violence declined by more than 60% for both males and females from 1994 to 2010.
• From 1994 to 2010, about 4 in 5 victims of intimate partner violence were female.
• Females ages 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 generally experienced the highest rates of intimate partner violence.
• Compared to every other age group, a smaller percentage of female victims ages 12 to 17 were previously victimized by the same offender.
• The rate of intimate partner violence for Hispanic females declined 78%, from 18.8 victimizations per 1,000 in 1994 to 4.1 per 1,000 in 2010.
• Females living in households comprised of one female adult with children experienced intimate partner violence at a rate more than 10 times higher than households with married adults with children and 6 times higher than households with one female only.