Demographics of Domestic Violence

Prevalence of domestic violence

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is common.  It affects millions of people in the United States each year. Data from CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) indicate: 

• About 1 in 4 women and nearly 1 in 10 men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime and reported some form of IPV-related impact.
• Over 43 million women and 38 million men experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime.          https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/fastfact.html

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that more than 10 million men and women in the United States are victims of domestic violence each year. The National Domestic Violence Hotline and the CDC says more than 12 million men and women are victims. https://www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/

The National Domestic Violence Hotline received more contacts from phone calls, chats and texts in 2018 than any other year since 1996. There were 573,670 contacts in 2018, 36% more than in 2017.

The 2018 NDVH report included the following statistics:

• 22% (similar to 2017) reported that their abusive situation involved children
  
• 13,625 victims experienced stalking
  
• 7,482 cited suicidal threats from their abusive partners
  
• 4.7% (up 1.1% from 2017) of victims disclosed the use or threat of firearms
  
• 4,565 victims experienced threats related to immigration status

The following are the types of abuse the callers to the NDVH reported in 2018:

Emotional Abuse: 88% (up 2% from 2017)  The exertion of power and control over partners about contacts with others, including family members, instilling shame, fear and demeaning partners with insults, threats, and punishments, preventing partners from making decisions, and preventing them from working outside of the home – isolating them.

Physical Abuse: 60% (no change from 2017) - hitting, biting, and choking.

Financial Abuse: 24% (up 2% from 2017) Stealing money or limiting access to money, using their partner’s credit cards or forcing their partners to co-sign on lines of credit.

Digital Abuse: 15% (up 3% from 2017) Using GPS or a phone to stalk their partners or track their travel, sending relentless text messages, monitoring computer use, and using cameras in the home to monitor activities.

Sexual Abuse: 11% (up 1% from 2017) Forcing unwanted sexual activity, involving other people in sexual activities without permission, forced viewing of pornography or demanding their partner wear sexually explicit clothing. https://www.thehotline.org/2019/06/19/ndvh-annual-impact-report-shows-record-setting-year/.

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) of 2015 reports the following incidences of sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in the lifetime of women and men.

Nonfatal domestic violence

Fortunately, the national rate of nonfatal domestic violence is declining. This is thought to be due to a decline in the marriage rate, decreased domesticity, better access to domestic violence shelters, improvements in female economic status, and an increase in the average age of the population.

Nurses as case finders

A number of researchers, Harland, et al, 2018; Alshammari, et al., 2018; Jiang, et al, 2013, report on victims of IPV seen in emergency departments. Victims generally are not there to seek help but to seek medical attention. Only one-third of police-identified victims of domestic violence are identified in the emergency department. However, fifty percent of women seen in emergency departments report a history of abuse. Approximately 40% of those killed by their abuser sought help in the two years before death. Healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, are first line healthcare providers with an opportunity to identify victims of abuse. Alshammari, et al. (2018) found assessment of women for abuse is not extensively taught in generic nursing programs. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499891/.

Harland, et al. (2018) studied the prevalence of IPV in an ED by sexual orientation and gender identification. The researchers surveyed 1,136 adult patients of which 132 experienced IPV. Here are some of the results of their study.

• The prevalence of IPV was significantly higher in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) patients than in heterosexuals (18.3% vs. 10.8%).
  
• Prevalence was highest among bisexuals (21.6%) and gay men (18.5%).
  
• IPV prevalence did not differ significantly in females versus males (13.5% vs. 9.2%).

Quintanilla, et al. (2016) conducted a systematic search using MEDLINE, CINAHL, ProQuest, LILACS and SciELO from 2000 to 2016. The surveyed studies in English and Spanish to determine contribution of violence against women to maternal deaths. They found IPV against pregnant women ranged from 0.9% to 20.1% in developed countries, 2% to 57% in African countries and 3% to 44% in Latin America and Caribbean countries. Alhusen, et al. (2015) examined the role of IPV affecting sexual health and maternal health. Here are some of their findings:

• Sexual risk taking – decreased condom use, multiple partners – increased with IPV.
  
• Unplanned pregnancies and abortions increased
  
• STDs and urinary tract infections with associated with IPV
  
• Increased rates of depression and PTSD during pregnancy with abuse
  
• Twice as likely to miss prenatal care appointments (45% vs 28% of non-abused women)
  
• Twice as likely to put off prenatal care until the third trimester
  
• Higher rates of smoking, alcohol, and drug use
  
• 54.3% of pregnancy-associated suicides involved intimate partner conflict
  
• 45.3% of pregnancy-associated homicides were associated with IPV

Homicides

As reported by Petrosky, et al, (2017) in 2015, 3,519 girls and women were killed. Approximately 50% of those victims were killed by male intimate partners. Here is the following break down by race and ethnic differences:

• Non-Hispanic black females - 4.4 per 100,000 population
  
• American Indian/Alaska Native women - 4.3 per 100,000 population
  
• Hispanic - 1.8 per 100,000 population
  
• Non-Hispanic white - 1.5 per 100,000 population
  
• A/PI (Asian/Pacific Islander) women - 1.2 per 100,000 population

It was found 98.2% of the IPV related female homicides were perpetrated by male suspects. In 29.7% of IPV-related homicides, an argument preceded the victim’s death, occurring more commonly among Hispanic victims. Approximately 12% of IPV-related homicides were associated with jealousy, also more commonly among Hispanic victims.

In 2016, 1,809 women were murdered in the US. Of these women, 93% were killed by a man they knew. The most common weapon was a gun. National statistics from the study include the following.

• Of the 1,809 female homicide victims, 1,188 were white, 517 were black, 55 were Asian or Pacific Islander, 26 were American Indian or Alaskan Native, and in 23 cases the race of the victim was not identified.
• 63 percent were wives or other intimate acquaintances of their killers. Thirteen times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers.
• In 2016, black females were murdered by men at a rate of 2.62 per 100,000, more than twice the rate of 1.03 per 100,000 for white women murdered by men.
• Firearms were the weapons most commonly used by males to murder females in 2016. 56 percent of female victims were shot and killed with a gun.

Most often, females were killed by males in the course of an argument between the victim and the offender.

Below is a list of the states with the 10 highest rates of females murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2016:

Domestic violence in California

In California domestic violence is considered to be the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats, and emotional abuse. The frequency and severity of domestic violence can vary dramatically.

Kidsdata.org provides the number of domestic violence-related calls to law enforcement by county and city. In 2018, a total of 166,890 domestic violence related calls were made to law enforcement in California—a rate of 6.3 calls per 1,000 adults ages 18-69. This represents a decrease of more than 30% compared with 1998, when there were 9.3 calls per 1,000 adults.

https://www.kidsdata.org/topic/3/intimate-partner-violence/summary
For the breakdown of calls for assistance by cities in California, go to https://www.kidsdata.org/export/pdf?cat=3.

Domestic violence in Kentucky

• 37.5% of Kentucky women and 31% of Kentucky men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner rape and/or rape in their lifetimes.
  
• 1 in 9 women in Kentucky has been a victim of forcible rape.
  
• Kentucky programs sheltered 3,295 victims of abuse and their children between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014

https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2497/kentucky_2019.pdf

Kentucky Domestic violence orders by the Kentucky State Police from 2017 and 2018

Florida domestic violence statistics

The following is the report of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence from 2018:

In 2018, 104,914 crimes of domestic violence were reported to Florida law enforcement agencies resulting in 64,573 arrests. During fiscal year 2017-18, Florida's certified domestic violence centers provided 669,785 nights of emergency shelter to 15,937 survivors of domestic violence and their children. Advocates created 167,867 tailored safety plans, provided a total of 336,737 hours of advocacy and counseling services, and received 85,588 domestic violence hotline calls from individual seeking emergency services, information, and safety planning assistance.

References

Alhusen, J.L., Ray, E., Sharps, P. & Bullock, L. (2015). Intimate partner violence during pregnancy: maternal and neonatal outcomes. J Women’s Health. 24(1),100-6. Free PMC Article

Kafi Fraih Alshammari, K., F., McGarry, J. & Higginbottom, G. M. (2018). Nurse education and understanding related to domestic violence and abuse against women: An integrative review of the literature. Nurs Open. 5(3), 237–253. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6056448/

Harland, K.K., Peek-Asa, C. & Saftlas, A.F. (2018). Intimate Partner Violence and Controlling Behaviors Experienced by Emergency Department Patients: Differences by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification. J Interpers Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518812070 PMC free article

Jiang, Y., DeBare, D., Colomer, I., Wesley, J., Seaberry, J. & Viner-Brown, S. (2013). Characteristics of Victims and Suspects in Domestic Violence-Related Homicide - Rhode Island Violent Death Reporting System, 2004-2015. R I Med J (2013). 101(10), 58-61.

Petrosky, E., Blair, J.M., Betz, C.J., Fowler, K.A., Jack, S.P. & Lyons, B.H. (2017). Racial and Ethnic Differences in Homicides of Adult Women and the Role of Intimate Partner Violence — United States, 2003–2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 66, 741–746.

Violence Policy Center (2019). When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2017 Homicide Data. Washington, DC.

Quintanilla, B.P., Taft, A., McDonald, S., Pollock, W. & Henriquez, J., C. (2016) Social determinants and maternal exposure to intimate partner violence of obstetric patients with severe maternal morbidity in the intensive care unit: a systematic review protocol. BMJ Open. 6(11) e013270

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