DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence

Introduction

Initially, domestic violence was defined narrowly as physical violence perpetrated by husbands against their wives. This definition has evolved in the last 30 years as people have come to realize that violence exists in all kinds of romantic relationships. Here domestic violence is defined broadly as abuse perpetrated by one romantic partner (or ex-partner) against another. Other terms used to characterize abuse in romantic relationship are intimate partner violence, spouse abuse, battering, and dating violence. This entry details how common domestic violence is, the kinds of abuse victims experience, risk factors for abuse, and how abuse impacts victims, their children, and the community.

Prevalence and Incidence

There are two ways to measure how common domestic violence is: incidence and prevalence. In the case of domestic violence, incidence is best thought of as the number of acts of domestic violence during a given time in a given population. Prevalence is best thought of as the proportion of a population that has experienced domestic violence in a specified time period. If every victim experienced only one act of domestic violence in a year, incidence and prevalence numbers would be the same for that year. However, typically incidence figures are higher than prevalence figures when based on the same data. These are typically calculated on an annual and lifetime basis, so both are presented here.

Yearly national estimates of domestic violence are taken from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), an annual national survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2008, the NCVS estimated that there were 593,100 incidents (69,100 against men and 504,980 against women) of violent victimization by an intimate partner in the United States, which translates to an annual incidence rate of less than 1 victimization per 1,000 men age 12 and older and 4 victimizations per 1,000 women age 12 and older. The National Violence against Women Survey (NVAWS) was a one-time national survey focused on physical violence, sexual assault, stalking, and threats of violence.

The NV AWS (conducted from 2004 to 2006) estimated there were 2.3 million domestic violence victims (counting physical assault and sexual assault) in the United States, which translated to an annual prevalence of 1.2% of the population age 18 and older (a rate of 12.1 per 1,000 people)—1.5% of women and .9% of men. The NVAWS also provided estimates of how many adults in the United States had experienced domestic violence over the course of their lives. The lifetime prevalence estimate was 16.5% of the population age 18 and older (a rate of 165 per 1,000 people)—24.8% of women and 7.6% of men. Homicide is the most extreme form of domestic violence, and it is tracked by the FBI through its Uniform Crime Reporting Program's Supplementary Homicide Reports (UCR-SHR). In 2008, there were 1,333 intimate homicides in t he United States. According to the NCVS and UCR-SHR, domestic violence has declined considerably over the last few decades. Between 2003 and 2008, the annual rate of domestic violence victimization reported by the NCVS has dropped 60% for women, from 9.8 to 3.9 per 1,000 women age 12 or older, and more than 50% for men, from 1.6 to 0.7 per 1,000 men age 12 or ...