NCJ Number
152377
Date Published
1994
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Prevalence statistics only partially reveal the extent of domestic violence, since domestic violence tends to be seriously under-reported and undiagnosed.
Abstract
In 1994, 7 percent of American women (3.9 million) who were married or living with someone as a couple were physically abused; 37 percent (20.7 million) were verbally or emotionally abused by their spouse or partner. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 95 percent of assaults on spouses or ex-spouses are committed by men against women. Domestic violence is repetitive in nature, and more people have directly witnessed a domestic violence incident than muggings and robberies combined. One study showed that 30 percent of women presenting with injuries at a hospital emergency department had injuries caused by battering. The level of injury resullting from domestic violence is severe, and medical costs of treating abused women are high. Pregnancy is a risk factor in battering, about 30 percent of women murdered in the United States are killed by a husband or boyfriend, and close to half of all domestic violence incidents are not reported to the police. Most physically abused women do not discuss such incidents with their physicians, and many medical school students do not receive instruction about domestic violence. It is recommended that, by the year 2000, at least 90 percent of hospital emergency departments establish protocols for routinely identifying, treating, and referring victims of sexual assault and spouse abuse.