Domestic violence occurs across demographic and gender lines, leaving no one unscathed by this horrible trauma. If domestic violence were a disease, it would be considered an epidemic due to how many people are affected.
Statistics
- One in 4 women will experience domestic violence at some point in their lifetimes.
- One in 7 men will experience domestic violence at some point in their lifetimes.
- Women are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than men.
- Women ages 20 to 24 are at the greatest risk of becoming victims of domestic violence.
- Every day, three women are murdered at the hand of their intimate partner.
- Every year, more than 3 million children witness domestic violence in their homes.
- Children exposed to domestic violence are more likely to have health problems, including becoming sick more often, having frequent headaches and stomachaches and being more tired and lethargic.
- Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten, more often than not by her intimate partner.
- Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women – more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.
- According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness among families.
- Survivors of domestic violence face high rates of depression, sleep disturbances, anxiety, flashbacks and other emotional distress.
- Without help, boys who witness domestic violence are far more likely to become abusers of their partners and/or children as adults, continuing the cycle of violence into the next generation.
- Domestic violence costs more than $37 billion a year in law enforcement involvement, legal work, medical and mental health treatment, and lost productivity at companies.
Despite these horrific statistics, many agencies, including A Safe Place are unable to help each victim of domestic violence that seeks assistance due to cuts in funding and a lack of monetary resources. Please view the PDFs attached below for more information about funding issues and the problems it causes when helping survivors.