Statistics On Domestic Violence: A National Crises
November 2014 - From SW Co Director Jacquie Skog and the SW Board
Recently Silent Witness (SW) has learned of a U.S. Department of Justice report dated November 2012 (NCJ 239203) stating a decline in the rate of intimate partner violence in the United States. In an article written by Esta Soler, founder of Futures Without Violence (FWV) http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/, Ms. Soler refers to the NCJ report claim of 64% reduction in the number of intimate partner victimizations. This article prompted several inquiries to SW asking for clarification about how these numbers compared to the dv homicide statistics on our website.
In the NCJ report, intimate partner violence is defined as non-fatal incidents such as rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault committed by an offender who is the victim's current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend however it doesn't track homicides.
On October 1, 2014 the homicide statistics from every state in the US, along with national trends, were introduced on our website at http://www.silentwitness.net/statistics--resources.html showing a downward trend in DV homicides,. Although the numbers are still much too high the results of the study confirm that progress is being made. In view of these statistics, we at Silent Witness (SW) feel the need to respond to the reported reduction in intimate partner violence statistics and clarify that domestic violence homicide rates in the US published on our website are not comparable.
In a closer look at the NCJ study methodology, we learned that there are major differences in the way the statistics for the FWV and SW were obtained. According to the NCJ report, the method used to collect the data in the report was obtained by The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BIS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) through the annual data collection conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The NCVS is a self-report survey in which interviewed persons are asked about the number of characteristics of non-lethal victimization experienced during the prior six months, it did not track homicides. Therefore this is a randomized study and not actual reports documented by law enforcement or other government and private agencies and not appropriate to compare to the SW research statistics.
The SW dv homicide statistics reported on our website were derived from data collection by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded/expandhomicidemain, representing actual reports documented by law enforcement and other government and private agencies in each state.
Our intention in publishing the dv homicide statistics is to share the information with anyone interested in using the numbers to design prevention and treatment models to address the need for healing programs for men and women to put an end to domestic violence murders and in support of the SW goal to end domestic violence murders by 2020.
It is important to note that the NCJ report contains valuable information about the decline in non-lethal violence yet should not be compared to the documented cases of dv homicides. Further study of the NCJ report is in process by our board of directors so that we can respond to your questions or concerns about its content.
Thank you to Esta Soler and Futures Without Violence for the excellent work her organization is doing to prevent violence in relationships. We are grateful that she is keeping us informed by publishing the reported outcomes of the U.S. Department of Justice November 2012 Special Report on Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2010.
_________________________________________________________________
March 7, 2012 Expanded Violence Against Women Act renewed
President Obama signed expanded protections for domestic violence victims into law Thursday, renewing a measure credited with curbing attacks against women a year and a half after it lapsed amid partisan bickering.
The revitalized Violence Against Women Act also marked an important win for gay rights advocates and Native Americans, who will see new protections under the law, and for Obama, whose attempts to push for a renewal failed last year after they became entangled in gender politics and the presidential election.
Factsheet on Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
_____________________________________________________________
The latest information Nov. 27, 2012 from the Bureau Of Justice Statistics (BJS) on Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2010
Shannan M. Catalano, Ph.D.
November 27, 2012 NCJ 239203
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.
Highlights:
PDF (1.5M)
ASCII file
Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 724K)
Help for using BJS products
About the Source Data
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
To cite this product, use the following link:
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4536
______________________________________________________
Past information on Intimate Homicide Victims by Gender
Source: FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-2004.
Date of release: June 29, 2006. Due to refinements in the analysis, the data presented may differ from previous editions. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm 2004.
Note: This information was originally from the link above. Please note that in 2013 the link is no longer active. Howerver the Bureau of Justice still has statistics on Intimate Partner Violence. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4536
Intimate Homicide Victims by Gender PDF 1976 - 2003
Domestic Violence: - Everyone's Issue Female murder victims are substantially more likely than male murder victims to have been killed by an intimate. In recent years - From US Department of Justice-Office of Justice Programs http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm 2004
Fifteen hundred Silent Witnesses from all fifty states participated in the first Washington, DC 1994 "March to End the Silence". Each state's Silent Witnesses represented the number of women murdered by domestic homicide in one year of the state's history. (Silent Witness National Initiative)
American women have more to fear from the men they know and once loved than from any stranger. (Jane Brody, New York Times)
A third of all women's injuries coming into our emergency rooms are no accident. Most are the result of deliberate, premeditated acts of violence. And frequently they occur over and over until the woman is killed. (Dr. Kevin Fullin, American Medical Association, public service ad, Time magazine)
Thirty-four percent of the women homicide victims over age 15 are killed by their husbands, ex-husbands or boyfriends. (National Women Abuse Prevention Project)
Approximately two-thirds of reported domestic violence incidents are classified as "simple assaults," which is a misdemeanor rather than a felony. But up to 50 percent of these "simple assaults" result in physical injuries that are as, or more, serious than 90 percent of all rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults. (NOW Legal Defense Fund)
Violence Begins at Home; Children and Crime as a Result of Domestic Violence
Eighty-one percent of men who batter had fathers who abused their mothers. (New Jersey Dept. of Community Affairs, Division on Women)
Children who grow up in violent homes have a 74% higher likelihood of committing criminal assaults. (Survey of Massachusetts Dept. of Youth Services)
Costs of Domestic Violence in the Workplace
Each year, medical expenses from domestic violence total at least $3 to $5 billion. Businesses forfeit another $100 million in lost wages, sick leave, absenteeism and non-productivity. (Colorado Domestic Violence Coalition)
Who Is At Greatest Risk for Domestic Violence?
Women ages 20 to 34, and increasingly, adolescent girls. Women who abuse alcohol or other drugs or whose partners do. Women who are poor. Women attempting to leave their abusers. Battered women increase their risk for murder when they try to escape. (New York City Department of Health)
No matter what the rate of violence or who initiates the violence, women are 7 to 10 times more likely to be injured in acts of intimate violence than are men. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
______________________________________________________
Domestic Violence: A Generational Infection
From US Department of Justice-Office of Justice Programs http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm
Between 1976 and 2004 --
"Children immersed in a culture of violence become insecure and lack an inner conscience that holds respect for others. They are easily discouraged and have low self-esteem. They live without hope. From such a life comes confusion, hostility and violence." Roger Toogood, ASW/ACSW Executive Director, Children's Home Society of Minnesota
"Although young people are disproportionately represented on both sides of the knife, or gun, it is important to consider their experiences as part of a larger picture of violence in America...Violence does not drop out of the sky. It is part of a long developmental process that begins in early childhood...at home." An excerpt from a study done by The American Psychological Association
"Beatings, gunshot wounds and stabbings all occur in the world of drug and alcohol-related events. Of more sobering influence is the knowledge that it is not only the 'criminal element' who is involved in such incidents, but also those people who engage in the daily production machinery of America - lawyers, physicians, teachers." G. Richard Holt, M.D., MSE, MPH President of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Inc.
"Approximately one third of the men counseled for battering are professional men who are well respected in their jobs and in their communities. These have included doctors, physiologists, lawyers, ministers and business executives." David Adams, "Identifying the Assaultive Husband in Court: You Be the Judge." Boston Bar Journal, July/August, 1989.
Recently Silent Witness (SW) has learned of a U.S. Department of Justice report dated November 2012 (NCJ 239203) stating a decline in the rate of intimate partner violence in the United States. In an article written by Esta Soler, founder of Futures Without Violence (FWV) http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/, Ms. Soler refers to the NCJ report claim of 64% reduction in the number of intimate partner victimizations. This article prompted several inquiries to SW asking for clarification about how these numbers compared to the dv homicide statistics on our website.
In the NCJ report, intimate partner violence is defined as non-fatal incidents such as rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault committed by an offender who is the victim's current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend however it doesn't track homicides.
On October 1, 2014 the homicide statistics from every state in the US, along with national trends, were introduced on our website at http://www.silentwitness.net/statistics--resources.html showing a downward trend in DV homicides,. Although the numbers are still much too high the results of the study confirm that progress is being made. In view of these statistics, we at Silent Witness (SW) feel the need to respond to the reported reduction in intimate partner violence statistics and clarify that domestic violence homicide rates in the US published on our website are not comparable.
In a closer look at the NCJ study methodology, we learned that there are major differences in the way the statistics for the FWV and SW were obtained. According to the NCJ report, the method used to collect the data in the report was obtained by The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BIS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) through the annual data collection conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The NCVS is a self-report survey in which interviewed persons are asked about the number of characteristics of non-lethal victimization experienced during the prior six months, it did not track homicides. Therefore this is a randomized study and not actual reports documented by law enforcement or other government and private agencies and not appropriate to compare to the SW research statistics.
The SW dv homicide statistics reported on our website were derived from data collection by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded/expandhomicidemain, representing actual reports documented by law enforcement and other government and private agencies in each state.
Our intention in publishing the dv homicide statistics is to share the information with anyone interested in using the numbers to design prevention and treatment models to address the need for healing programs for men and women to put an end to domestic violence murders and in support of the SW goal to end domestic violence murders by 2020.
It is important to note that the NCJ report contains valuable information about the decline in non-lethal violence yet should not be compared to the documented cases of dv homicides. Further study of the NCJ report is in process by our board of directors so that we can respond to your questions or concerns about its content.
Thank you to Esta Soler and Futures Without Violence for the excellent work her organization is doing to prevent violence in relationships. We are grateful that she is keeping us informed by publishing the reported outcomes of the U.S. Department of Justice November 2012 Special Report on Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2010.
_________________________________________________________________
March 7, 2012 Expanded Violence Against Women Act renewed
President Obama signed expanded protections for domestic violence victims into law Thursday, renewing a measure credited with curbing attacks against women a year and a half after it lapsed amid partisan bickering.
The revitalized Violence Against Women Act also marked an important win for gay rights advocates and Native Americans, who will see new protections under the law, and for Obama, whose attempts to push for a renewal failed last year after they became entangled in gender politics and the presidential election.
Factsheet on Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
_____________________________________________________________
The latest information Nov. 27, 2012 from the Bureau Of Justice Statistics (BJS) on Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2010
Shannan M. Catalano, Ph.D.
November 27, 2012 NCJ 239203
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.
Highlights:
- 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.
PDF (1.5M)
ASCII file
Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 724K)
Help for using BJS products
About the Source Data
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
To cite this product, use the following link:
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4536
______________________________________________________
Past information on Intimate Homicide Victims by Gender
Source: FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-2004.
Date of release: June 29, 2006. Due to refinements in the analysis, the data presented may differ from previous editions. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm 2004.
Note: This information was originally from the link above. Please note that in 2013 the link is no longer active. Howerver the Bureau of Justice still has statistics on Intimate Partner Violence. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4536
Intimate Homicide Victims by Gender PDF 1976 - 2003
Domestic Violence: - Everyone's Issue Female murder victims are substantially more likely than male murder victims to have been killed by an intimate. In recent years - From US Department of Justice-Office of Justice Programs http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm 2004
- About one third of female murder victims were killed by an intimate.
- About 3% of male murder victims were killed by an intimate.
- Of all female murder victims, the proportion killed by an intimate declined slightly until 1995 when the proportion began increasing, although it has stabilized recently.
- Of male murder victims, the proportion killed by an intimate has dropped.<
Fifteen hundred Silent Witnesses from all fifty states participated in the first Washington, DC 1994 "March to End the Silence". Each state's Silent Witnesses represented the number of women murdered by domestic homicide in one year of the state's history. (Silent Witness National Initiative)
American women have more to fear from the men they know and once loved than from any stranger. (Jane Brody, New York Times)
A third of all women's injuries coming into our emergency rooms are no accident. Most are the result of deliberate, premeditated acts of violence. And frequently they occur over and over until the woman is killed. (Dr. Kevin Fullin, American Medical Association, public service ad, Time magazine)
Thirty-four percent of the women homicide victims over age 15 are killed by their husbands, ex-husbands or boyfriends. (National Women Abuse Prevention Project)
Approximately two-thirds of reported domestic violence incidents are classified as "simple assaults," which is a misdemeanor rather than a felony. But up to 50 percent of these "simple assaults" result in physical injuries that are as, or more, serious than 90 percent of all rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults. (NOW Legal Defense Fund)
Violence Begins at Home; Children and Crime as a Result of Domestic Violence
Eighty-one percent of men who batter had fathers who abused their mothers. (New Jersey Dept. of Community Affairs, Division on Women)
Children who grow up in violent homes have a 74% higher likelihood of committing criminal assaults. (Survey of Massachusetts Dept. of Youth Services)
Costs of Domestic Violence in the Workplace
Each year, medical expenses from domestic violence total at least $3 to $5 billion. Businesses forfeit another $100 million in lost wages, sick leave, absenteeism and non-productivity. (Colorado Domestic Violence Coalition)
Who Is At Greatest Risk for Domestic Violence?
Women ages 20 to 34, and increasingly, adolescent girls. Women who abuse alcohol or other drugs or whose partners do. Women who are poor. Women attempting to leave their abusers. Battered women increase their risk for murder when they try to escape. (New York City Department of Health)
No matter what the rate of violence or who initiates the violence, women are 7 to 10 times more likely to be injured in acts of intimate violence than are men. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
______________________________________________________
Domestic Violence: A Generational Infection
From US Department of Justice-Office of Justice Programs http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm
Between 1976 and 2004 --
- the number of white females killed by intimates rose in the mid-1980's, then declined after 1993 reaching the lowest recorded in 2002.The number increased slightly after 2002.
- the number of intimate homicides for all other race and gender groups declined over the period; the number of black males killed by intimates dropped by 82%, black females by 56%, white males by 55%, and white females 5%.
"Children immersed in a culture of violence become insecure and lack an inner conscience that holds respect for others. They are easily discouraged and have low self-esteem. They live without hope. From such a life comes confusion, hostility and violence." Roger Toogood, ASW/ACSW Executive Director, Children's Home Society of Minnesota
"Although young people are disproportionately represented on both sides of the knife, or gun, it is important to consider their experiences as part of a larger picture of violence in America...Violence does not drop out of the sky. It is part of a long developmental process that begins in early childhood...at home." An excerpt from a study done by The American Psychological Association
"Beatings, gunshot wounds and stabbings all occur in the world of drug and alcohol-related events. Of more sobering influence is the knowledge that it is not only the 'criminal element' who is involved in such incidents, but also those people who engage in the daily production machinery of America - lawyers, physicians, teachers." G. Richard Holt, M.D., MSE, MPH President of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Inc.
"Approximately one third of the men counseled for battering are professional men who are well respected in their jobs and in their communities. These have included doctors, physiologists, lawyers, ministers and business executives." David Adams, "Identifying the Assaultive Husband in Court: You Be the Judge." Boston Bar Journal, July/August, 1989.