Domestic Violence - Epidemiology

Epidemiology

Domestic violence occurs across the world, in various cultures, and affects people of all economic statuses. According to one study, the percentage of women who have reported being physically abused by an intimate partner vary from 69% to 10% depending on the country.

In the United States, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 1995 women reported a six times greater rate of intimate partner violence than men. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicates that in 1998 about 876,340 violent crimes were committed in the U.S. against women by their current or former spouses, or boyfriends. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in the United States 4.8 million women suffer intimate partner related physical assaults and rapes and 2.9 million men are victims of physical assault from their partners.

Studies have found that men are much less likely to report victimization in these situations. According to some studies, less than 1% of domestic violence cases are reported to the police. In the United States 10–35% of the population will be physically aggressive towards a partner at some point in their lives. As abuse becomes more severe women become increasingly overrepresented as victims.

Fighting the prevalence of domestic violence in Kashmir has brought Hindu and Muslim activists together. Additionally, aspects of Islamic law have been criticized for promoting domestic violence One study found that half of Palestinian women have been the victims of domestic violence. 80% of women surveyed in rural Egypt said that beatings were common and often justified, particularly if the woman refused to have sex with her husband.

The Human Rights Watch found that up to 90% of women in Pakistan were subject to some form of maltreatment, within their own homes. Unofficial statistics estimate that 97% of Indian women experience violence at some point in their lives. Up to two-thirds of women in certain communities in Nigeria's Lagos State say they are victims to domestic violence. In Turkey 42% of women over 15 have suffered physical or sexual violence.

Statistics published in 2004, show that the rate of domestic violence victimisation for Indigenous women in Australia may be 40 times the rate for non-Indigenous women. In Canada, the Assembly of First Nations evaluation of the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program conducted by CIET offers an inclusive and relatively unbiased national estimate. It documented domestic violence in a random sample of 85 First Nations across Canada: 22% (523/2359) of mothers reported suffering abuse in the year prior to being interviewed; of these, 59% reported physical abuse.

In Turkey 42% of women over 15 have suffered physical or sexual violence.

Results of studies which estimate the prevalence of domestic violence vary significantly, depending on specific wording of survey questions, how the survey is conducted, the definition of abuse or domestic violence used, the willingness or unwillingness of victims to admit that they have been abused and other factors. For instance, Straus (2005) conducted a study which estimated that the rate of minor assaults by women in the United States was 78 per 1,000 couples, compared with a rate for men of 72 per 1,000 and the severe assault rate was 46 per 1,000 couples for assaults by women and 50 per 1,000 for assaults by men. Neither difference is statistically significant. He claimed that since these rates were based exclusively on information provided by women respondents, the near-equality in assault rates could not be attributed to a gender bias in reporting.

One analysis found that "women are as physically aggressive or more aggressive than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners". However, studies have shown that women are more likely to be injured. Archer's meta-analysis found that women in the United States suffer 65% of domestic violence injuries. A Canadian study showed that 7% of women and 6% of men were abused by their current or former partners, but female victims of spousal violence were more than twice as likely to be injured as male victims, three times more likely to fear for their life, twice as likely to be stalked, and twice as likely to experience more than ten incidents of violence. However, Straus notes that Canadian studies on domestic violence have simply excluded questions that ask men about being victimized by their wives.

Some studies show that lesbian relationships have similar levels of violence as heterosexual relationships.