RESEARCH
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Every 9 Seconds in the USA a Woman is Beaten.
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A Domestic Abuse Call is Received by Police Every 30 Seconds.
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Estimated 26-40% of Police Officers are Domestic Abusers.
- In 2018, there were 104,914 incidents of domestic violence reported statewide
- IPV starts early and continues throughout the lifespan. When IPV occurs in adolescence, it is called teen dating violence (TDV). TDV affects millions of U.S. teens each year. About 11 million women and 5 million men who reported experiencing contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime said that they first experienced these forms of violence before the age of 18. Icdc
- Intimate partner problems were identified in 1,327 (26%) of all suicide cases where circumstances were known and intimate partner violence in 575 (43%) cases identified as having intimate partner problems. There was an argument or fight in 30% of cases where intimate partner problems were identified and most were immediately followed by the suicide. (Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, a bona fide agent for the Kentucky Department for Public Health. April 2017. )
- After the relationship ends, the perpetrator sets their sights on the child(ren) to exert control and, to terrorize the healthy parent. Every high-conflict custody battle has three basic narratives: the abuser’s need for control, the abuser’s need to “win” and, the abuser’s desire to hurt or punish the healthy parent.
- The Number One Cause of Homelessness for Women and Children is Intimate Terrorism.
- Black Women Experience IPV at 35% Higher Rate than White Women.
- Women are Eight Times more likely to be killed in IPV if there is a Firearm in the Home.
- During the Con19 Panademic States saw an Increase in IPV up to 50%
- Domestic Violence Hotlines Receive an Average 20 thousand Calls a Day.
- Domestic violence is about control, power, and domination. While stalking may be perpetrated by strangers, acquaintances, or current or former intimate partners, stalking is most often committed against women in the domestic violence context. When victims of domestic violence leave their abusers, abusers often stalk victims in an effort to regain control. Because of this increased risk of “separation violence,” victims fear for their lives and for the safety of their children.(USDOJ.GOV)
- Most victims of Stalking are women (80%); most stalkers are men(87%). • Stalkers are generally motivated by the desire to control the victim. (One out of every 12 women (8.2 million) in the United States and 1 out of every 45 men (2 million) have been stalked at some time in their lives.USDOJ.GOV)
- According to the NCVS, most offenses (60 percent) occur between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. at the victim‟s home.
- Research suggests a close association between stalking and murders of women by intimate partners. One study, for example, found more than half (54 percent) of female intimate partner murder victims had reported stalking to police prior to their murders by the stalkers. Even if the stalker is not charged, stalking constitutes a red flag for potential lethality. (Research basis: National study of 141 murders and 65 attempted murders of women, and confirmation in other stalking studies.)
- If there is physical abuse in domestic violence, studies suggest that there is probably sexual abuse as well. A Texas study found that almost 70 percent of women seeking protective orders were raped, most (79 percent) repeatedly.
- Intimate partner homicides constituted 11 percent of all homicides between 1976 and 2005, 30 percent of all female murders (1976-2004), and 3 percent of all male murders (1976-2005). The proportion of female homicide victims killed by an intimate partner is increasing. Unlike nonfatal domestic violence, most intimate partner homicides (54 percent) involve spouses or ex-spouses, although intimate partner homicides for unmarried couples are approaching the rate for married or divorced couples.
- According to the Washington State Domestic Violence Fatality Review, between 1997 and 2004, there were 313 domestic violence fatality cases in that state involving 416 homicides, including 23 children, 32 friends/family members of primary intimate partner victims, 19 new boyfriends of primary intimate victims, one co-worker of the primary intimate victim, three law enforcement officers responding to the intimate partner homicide, 9 abusers killed by law enforcement, and 10 abusers killed by a friend or family member of victims. Additionally, 93 abusers committed suicide after killing their victim(s).
- Implications for Prosecutors and Judges To reduce female homicides generally, prosecutors and judges must give priority to the protection of female intimates. Reduction of female intimate homicides will also reduce collateral homicides of children, other family members, and responding law enforcement officers as well as reducing abuser suicides. (Research basis: National data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and multiple state and local fatality reviews.)
- Analysis of NVAWS data revealed that 18 percent of the women who experienced abuse experienced systemic abuse, meaning they were likely to suffer physical attacks (with and without weapons) and strangulation; of these women, 24.4 percent also experienced sexual assault, and 47.8 percent experienced stalking. A study of dating violence similarly found substantial overlap between physical and sexual victimization.
- A study from The Child and Family Research Partnership, at the University of Texas found that 37 percent of surveyed custodial parents with formal child support orders, reported experiencing domestic violence from their child’s other parent at least once by the time their child was 3 years old. In addition, 43 percent of mothers who did not have a formal child support order, and who were not receiving any formal or informal child support, reported experiencing domestic violence by the child’s father. The high rates of domestic violence among mothers who are not receiving child support, highlights the likelihood they are forgoing this needed support due to fears of increased violence associated with pursuing child support.
- Battered women’s income tends to decrease significantly after divorce. One study noted that the average post-divorce per capita income of wives and children approximates 68 percent of their before-divorce per capita income; whereas, the per capita income of husbands increased by 182 percent after divorce. (UCLA)
- A half dozen batterer program studies published between 1988 and 2001 conducted across the United States documented reabuse as reported by victims to range from 26 to 41% within five to 30 months. Five studies published between 1985 and 1999 of court-restrained abusers in multiple states found reabuse rates as measured by arrest and/or victim reports to range within four months to two years from 24 to 60%. Where studies have found substantially lower re-arrest rates for abuse, it appears the lower rate is a result of police behavior, not abuser behavior.
- Some women who have been adjudicated for a domestic violence offense are, in fact, battered women who fought back (Kernsmith, 2005; Miller, 2005). They may well be at the same level of risk of serious injury or death as battered women who are seeking shelter.
- Research on Dual Arrests Another concern about mandatory arrest policies is whether they result in increased “dual arrests,” where both parties are arrested even though one party is a victim resisting abuse. Arrest of both parties in a domestic assault or related criminal incident may trivialize the seriousness of the batterer’s conduct and compromises the safety and legal rights of the victim. There is also some reason to believe that true mutual combat is not common. The North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission (1 998) has estimated that only in 3 to 4 percent of cases are both parties the combatants.
- 1 in 4 women (24%) reported they had been arrested or threatened with arrest during a partner abuse incident or while reporting a sexual assault incident to the police.
- Why do some victims behave as they do? A significant portion of victims of intimate partner violence and sexual assault suffer from trauma.Studies have found up to 88% of battered women in shelters suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Other studies have found up to 72% suffer depression and 75% anxiety. A meta-analysis across multiple samples of battered women found a weighted mean prevalence of 48% for depression and 64% for PTSD.