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About this Topic | |
This webpage focuses on nonfatal intimate partner violence (IPV), fatal IPV, rape and sexual assault. It includes estimates of the extent of crimes against females and males and the characteristics of crimes and victims. Crime trends are also presented, along with comparative estimates of crimes against males. Data are from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1993 to 2008, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting Program's (UCR) Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1993 to 2007 (the most recent data available).
Summary findings
Nonfatal intimate partner violence
Intimate partner violence includes victimization committed by spouses or exspouses, boyfriends or girlfriends, and ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends.
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In 2008 females age 12 or older experienced about 552,000 nonfatal violent victimizations (rape/sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated or simple assault) by an intimate partner (a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend).
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In the same year, men experienced 101,000 nonfatal violent victimizations by an intimate partner.
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The rate of intimate partner victimizations for females was 4.3 victimizations per 1,000 females age 12 or older. The equivalent rate of intimate partner violence against males was 0.8 victimizations per 1,000 males age 12 or older.
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The rate of intimate partner violence against females declined 53% between 1993 and 2008, from 9.4 victimizations per 1,000 females age 12 or older to 4.3 per 1,000. Against males, the rate declined 54%, from 1.8 victimizations per 1,000 males age 12 or older to 0.8 per 1,000.
Fatal intimate partner violence
Fatal intimate partner violence includes homicide or murder and non-negligent manslaughter, defined as the willful killing of one human being by another.
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In 2007 intimate partners committed 14% of all homicides in the U.S. The total estimated number of intimate partner homicide victims in 2007 was 2,340, including 1,640 females and 700 males.
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Females made up 70% of victims killed by an intimate partner in 2007, a proportion that has changed very little since 1993.
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Females were killed by intimate partners at twice the rate of males. In 2007 the rate of intimate partner homicide for females was 1.07 per 100,000 female residents compared to 0.47 per 100,000 male residents.
- Between 1993 and 2007 the total number of homicide victims in the U.S. fell 31%, with a somewhat greater decline for females (-34%) than males (-30%). Homicide victims killed by intimate partners fell 29%, with a greater decline for males (-36%) than females (-26%).
- Homicide victims killed by an intimate partner declined from an estimated 3,300 in 1993 to an estimated 2,340 in 2007.
- Between 1993 and 2007, female victims killed by an intimate partner declined from 2,200 to 1,640 victims, and male intimate partner homicide victims declined from 1,100 to 700 victims.
Children exposed to intimate partner violence -
The NCVS was not designed to capture information on the number of children who witness intimate partner violence; however, the survey is able to examine the characteristics of households with a victim of IPV, including whether children under age 12 were living in the home.
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Using NCVS data from 2001 to 2005, among households with a female IPV victim, 38% had children under age 12 living in the home. Of the households with a male IPV victim, 21% had children under age 12 living in the home.
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Court statistics can identify whether a child witnessed a violent incident between intimate partners. Of 3,750 intimate partner violence cases filed in state courts in 16 large urban counties in 2002, children were present during the violent incident in 36% of the cases. Of those children who were present, 60% directly witnessed the violence.
Publications & Products | |
Methods for Counting High-Frequency Repeat Victimizations in the National Crime Victimization Survey
Examines the nature and extent of series victimization in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). |
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PDF (2.39M) | ASCII file (101K) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 40K)
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Profile of Intimate Partner Violence Cases in Large Urban Counties
Examines the characteristics and processing of 3,750 cases of intimate partner violence, filed in the state courts of 16 large urban counties in May 2002. |
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Press Release | PDF (1.4M) | ASCII file (25K) | Spreadsheet (16K)
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Female Victims of Violence
Provides the current findings on nonfatal and fatal violent crimes committed against females. |
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PDF (365) | ASCII file (17K) | Spreadsheet (5K)
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Intimate Partner Violence in the United States
This webpage examines fatal and non-fatal violence by intimates (current or former spouses, girlfriends, or boyfriends) since the redesign of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) in 1993. |
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HTML | PDF (491K)
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Family Violence Statistics: Including Statistics on Strangers and Acquaintances
Compares family and nonfamily violence statistics from victimization through the different stages of the justice system. |
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Press Release | Full Report (PDF 1M) | Full Report (ASCII file 34K) | Full Report - Zip format (Spreadsheet 136K) | Reported and unreported family violence (PDF 739K) | Reported and unreported family violence - Zip format (Spreadsheet 15K) | Reported and unreported family violence - Source data (HTML) | Fatal family violence (PDF 718K) | Fatal family violence - Zip format (Spreadsheet 9K) | Fatal family violence - Source data (HTML) | Family violence reported to police (PDF 727K) | Family violence reported to police - Zip format (Spreadsheet 12K) | Family violence reported to police - Source data (HTML) | Family violence recorded by police (PDF 779K) | Family violence recorded by police - Zip format (Spreadsheet 22K) | Family violence recorded by police - Source data (HTML) | State prosecution of family assault (PDF 726K) | State prosecution of family assault - Zip format (Spreadsheet 42K) | State prosecution of family assault - Source data (HTML) | Federal prosecution of domestic violence (PDF 704K) | Federal prosecution of domestic violence - Zip format (Spreadsheet 5K) | Federal prosecution of domestic violence - Source data (HTML) | Family violence offenders in prison (PDF 735K) | Family violence offenders in prison - Zip format (Spreadsheet 14K) | Family violence offenders in prison - Source data (HTML) | Family violence offenders in jail (PDF 734K) | Family violence offenders in jail - Zip format (Spreadsheet 34K) | Family violence offenders in jail - Source data (HTML) | Methodology and Appendix (PDF 691K) | Methodology and Appendix - Zip format (Spreadsheet 8K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version
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Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2001
Reports on trends in intimate partner violence of persons age 12 or older in the United States using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports. |
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PDF (234K) | ASCII file (5K) | Spreadsheet (5K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version
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Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim
Provides estimates of violence by intimates (current or former spouses, girlfriends, and boyfriends) with an emphasis on the victim's age using the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1993-99. |
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Press Release | PDF (140K) | ASCII file (33K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 24K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version
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Intimate Partner Violence
Provides information on violence by intimates (current or former spouses, girlfriends, or boyfriends) since the redesign of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). |
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Press Release | PDF (103K) | ASCII file (26K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 32K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To obtain paper version
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Preventing Domestic Violence Against Women
This report presents and interprets 1978-1982 National Crime Survey (NCS) data on married, divorced, and separated women who reported being victims of domestic violence at least once during a 1-year period. The analysis focuses on whether reporting the incident to the police increased or decreased victims' chances of being assaulted again. |
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PDF
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Terms & Definitions | |
Nonstranger |
A classification of a crime victim's relationship to the offender. An offender who is
either related to, well known to, or casually acquainted with the victim is a
nonstranger. For crimes with more than one offender, if any of the offenders are
nonstrangers, then the group of offenders as a whole is classified as nonstranger.
This
category only applies to crimes which involve contact between the victim and the
offender; the distinction is not made for crimes of theft since victims of this
offense
rarely see the offenders. |
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Stranger |
A classification of the victim's relationship to the offender for crimes involving
direct contact between the two. Incidents are classified as involving strangers if the
victim identifies the offender as a stranger, did not see or recognize the offender,
or knew the offender only by sight. Crimes involving multiple offenders are classified
as involving nonstrangers if any of the offenders was a nonstranger. Since victims of
theft without contact rarely see the offender, no distinction is made between
strangers and nonstrangers for the crime. |
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