NCJ Number
219371
Date Published
2007
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This report presents statistical information on the trends of domestic violence in West Virginia using incident-based crime data from 2000-2005.
Abstract
Report highlights include: (1) between 2000 and 2005, the total number of domestic violence victims reported to law enforcement declined by 4.1 percent; (2) the majority of domestic violence victims known to law enforcement were victims of simple assault in 2000 and 2005; (3) the total number of violent crime domestic violence victims known to law enforcement declined by 33.6 percent between 2000 and 2005; (4) females comprised 51.1 percent of West Virginia’s population in 2005, but accounted for 75.3 percent of all domestic violence victims reported to law enforcement in 2005; (5) of the 12,621 domestic violence victims reported in 2005, a total of 8,626 or 68.3 percent were victims of intimate partner violence; and (6) the rate of persons victimized by an intimate partner was 4.7 or approximately 5 victims per 1,000 residents compared to 2.2 for non-intimate partners in 2005. Domestic violence, including intimate partner violence, continues to be recognized as a major issue to the public. In 2003, the Federal initiative, Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) began in West Virginia, known as Project Safe Homes (PSH). The goal of PSH was to reduce the incidence of domestic violence in the northern district. This report, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics supports these efforts by providing statistics on the trends of domestic violence in the State of West Virginia and across Federal judicial districts. Information is also provided on the concentrations of high domestic violence rates in the State. Tables, graphs, notes, and references