Domestic
Violence Statistics
Leslie
K. Penny
Module
2 Research Assignment 2
Chancellor
University
Domestic Violence Statistics
The
amount of domestic violence that takes place daily is unimaginable to
many. To even grasp that at this very
second someone is being physically, sexually, mentally or verbally assaulted by
a supposed loved one, by a stranger or by a friend is hard to accept. Statistics such as the ones provided by the
American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence website
can answer questions that cover topics such as prevalence, stalking, stalking
on campus, sexual assault, trafficking, domestic violence by race and ethnicity,
etc. asking who the victims are; how are they identified; what is the nature of
the violence experienced; can men be victims of interpersonal violence and if
so, how does interpersonal violence of males differ from that of females.
We are
all aware of the prevalence of domestic violence as it is depicted all around
us, in person, word of mouth, on television, in movies, in the media, in books,
etc. But to be precise, the statistics
are discouraging and frightening.
According to the American Bar Association website, "approximately
1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate
partner annually in the United States" as depicted from Patricia Tjaden
& Nancy Thoennes report, Full Report
of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence
Against Women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey,
found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/183781.htm.
Another
prevalence of domestic violence statistic that stood out was the list that the
U.S. Department of Justice put together between the years of 1998 and 2002
explaining that
"of
the almost 3.5 million violent crimes committed against family members, 49% of
these crimes were against
spouses" while "84% of spouse abuse victims were females, and 86% of victims of dating partner abuse were
females" where "males were 83% of spouse murderers and 75% of dating partner
murders" and "50% of offenders in state prison for spousal abuse had killed their victims. Wives were more than likely than husbands to
be killed by their spouses: wives
were about half of all spouses in the population in 2002, but 81% of all persons
killed by their
spouses", as depicted by Mathew R. Durose et
al., U.S. Dep't of Just., Bureau of
Justice Statistics, Family Violence Statistics: Including Statistics on
Strangers and Acquaintances. When it
comes to prevalence of domestic violence, according to the research, the
majority of the victims are women but men are getting their share as well. Statistics tell us, it does not matter the
sex, domestic violence is prevalent in both.
The nature of violence experienced ranges from rape, physical assault
and battery, verbal abuse, etc.
Stalking
is also very prevalent in our society and according to the Stalking Resource
Center, "1,006,970 women and 370,990 men are stalked annually in the
United States" where "1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked
in their lifetime, 77% of female and 64% of male victims know their stalkers,
87% of stalkers are men, 59% of female victims and 30% of male victims are
stalked". Stalking on campus is
another concern, especially for women.
In this study involving 4446 college women during February to May in
1997 , by Bonnie Fisher et al. article The
Sexual Victimization of College Women, that
can be found at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf, "13% of
college women were stalked during one six to nine month period, 80% of campus
stalking victims knew their stalkers" and "3 in 10 college women
reported being injured emotionally or psychologically from being
stalked". According to these statistics, women are stalked
the most with men making up a small percent where the victims experience
unwanted phone calls, unwanted letters or items, vandalized property, death or
be threatened and fear (Survey of Recent Statistics, 2013).
According
to the statistics on the American Bar Association website with information
provided by the National Violence Against Women Survey, "women are more
likely to be victims of sexual assault than men: 78% of the victims of rape and
sexual assault are women and 22% are men; most perpetrators of sexual violence
are men". The survey goes on to say
that "among acts of sexual violence committed against women since the age
of 18, 100% of rapes, 92% of physical assaults, and 97% of stalking acts were
perpetrated by men" while "sexual violence against men" that
"is also mainly male violence: 70% of rapes, 86% of physical assaults, and
65% of stalking acts were perpetrated by men; in 8 out of 10 rape cases, the
victim knows the perpetrator" and "people who report sexual violence,
64% of women and 16% of men were raped, physically assaulted, or stalked by an
intimate partner" that "includes a current or former spouse,
cohabitating partner, boyfriend/girlfriend, or date" (Survey of Recent Statistics, 2013).
Trafficking,
defined by the UN "as the recruitment, transportation, transfer,
harboring, or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other
forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power
or of a position of vulnerability of the giving or receiving of payments or
benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person,
for the purpose of exploitation which shall include, at a minimum, the
exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual
exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to
slavery, servitude or the removal of organs" (Survey of Recent Statistics, 2013). The statistics tell as that an
"estimated 600000 to 800000 men, women and children are trafficked across
international borders each year, and approximately 80% of trafficking victims
are women and girls" This
particular statistics includes men as well as women and children who are the
victims and are identified through reports and those that are rescued (Survey of Recent Statistics, 2013).
Domestic
violence can also be categorized by race and ethnicity. According to the Southwest Center for Law and
Policy, "Native Americans are victims of rape or sexual assault at more
than double the rate of other racial groups". The site goes on to say that African
Americans, in particular women, endure deadly violence from their own family
members at a much higher rate than other racial groups in the U.S. The statistics indicate that 77% Hispanic
Texans have either they themselves, a member of their family or friend
"have experienced some form of domestic violence, indicating that
approximately 5.2 million Hispanic Texans are personally affected by the
epidemic of domestic violence" with that number only rising if the current
prevalent rates remain the same, according to the Texas Council on Family
Violence. Asian & Pacific Islanders,
Cambodians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, South Asians, and
Immigrants, the story is the same, a certain percent are victims of domestic
violence with the nature of violence basically the same, just different
variations (Survey of Recent Statistics, 2013).
Each
category of violence listed depicts who the victims are, what methods were
taken to identify them as well as the nature of the violence experienced. Some of the statistics indicated that a
percentage of men are indeed victims of interpersonal violence (Survey of Recent Statistics, 2013). As to be expected, no one is untouchable,
therefore interpersonal violence does not discriminate. Anyone is susceptible. Interpersonal violence for males differs from
females in that males experienced physical violence, aggression, or muggings
more commonly and were more likely committed by a non-intimate or non-family individual
and for women had more occurrences of sexual assault, physical assault,
coercion, and stalking and the offenders were more likely their intimate
partners (Iverson, 2012).
To
conclude, the statistics gleaned from the American Bar Association website demonstrated
that any individual can be a victim of interpersonal violence. Even though there are misconceptions and
myths that men are not victims due to their manly natures, its false. Unfortunately, anyone can be a victim no
matter who they are or their socioeconomic status and the level of violence can
be horrific. Unfortunately, many of
these statics are not 100% accurate because there are many who never tell of
their abuse therefore the stats are more than likely much worse.
Works Cited
Iverson, K. M. (2012, 12 31). Interpersonal
Violence Affects Men and Women in Similar Ways. Retrieved 03 16, 2013,
from Good Therapy:
http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/violence-men-women-victims-1228122
Survey of Recent Statistics. (2013). Retrieved 03 16, 2013, from American Bar
Association :
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/domestic_violence/resources/statistics.html
No comments:
Post a Comment