Domestic Violence Awareness Month is observed in October every year.  In 1989, congress declared the month of October to be Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Domestic Violence  or Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a Significant Public Health Issue. The new updates from the CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) reveal findings that indicate that millions of Americans are affected by sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence every year. In addition to the immediate physical and emotional toll, there is a wide range of chronic physical and mental health problems that are  associated with these forms of violence. The impact is felt well beyond an individual victim, with substantial economic costs across victims’ lifetimes due to medical care, lost work, and criminal justice activities. Reviewing the data from the NISVS not only helps raise awarness of IPV impacts it supports the development of a comprehensive strategy to prevent these types of violence with not only public health but with other sectors such as  education, justice, and social services, to implement prevention efforts. The goal is by understanding and addressing sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence, we can empower communities to stop violence before it begins.

The key findings from NISVS indicate that millions of Americans are affected by sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence every year. In addition to the immediate physical and emotional toll, a wide range of chronic physical and mental health problems are associated with these forms of violence. The impact is felt well beyond an individual victim, with substantial economic costs across victims’ lifetimes due to medical care, lost work, and criminal justice activities.

The bottom-line, IPV affects millions of people in the United States each year with about 41% of women who have  experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime and reported a related impact.

Just the Facts:

* On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.

* 1 in 4 women experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contact sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking with impacts such as injury, fearfulness, post-traumatic stress disorder, use of victim services, contraction of sexually transmitted diseases.

* 9% of Massachusetts women experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes.

* 1 in 3 women have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. This includes a range of behaviors (e.g. slapping, shoving, pushing) and in some cases might not be considered “domestic violence.”

* 1 in 7 women have been injured by an intimate partner.

* 1 in 10 women have been raped by an intimate partner.

* 1 in 4 women have been victims of severe physical violence (e.g. beating, burning, strangling) by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

* 1 in 7 women have been stalked by an intimate partner during their lifetime to the point in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed.

* On a typical day, there are more than 20,000 phone calls placed to domestic violence hotlines nationwide.

* The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%.

* Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.

* Women between the ages of 18-24 are most commonly abused by an intimate partner.

* 19% of domestic violence involves a weapon.

* Domestic victimization is correlated with a higher rate of depression and suicidal behavior.

* Only 34% of people who are injured by intimate partners receive medical care for their injuries.

* RAPE: 1 in 5 women in the United States has been raped in their lifetime. Almost half of female (46.7%) victims of rape in the United States were raped by an acquaintance. Of these, 45.4% of female rape victims were raped by an intimate partner.

* STALKING: 3 million women in the United States have been stalked in their lifetime.1 60.8% of female stalking victims reported being stalked by a current or former intimate partner.11

* HOMICIDE: A study of intimate partner homicides found that 20% of victims were not the intimate partners themselves, but family members, friends, neighbors, persons who intervened, law enforcement responders, or bystanders.  72% of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner; 94% of the victims of these murder suicides are female.

* CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: 1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to this violence.

Domestic Violence IMPACT:

* ECONOMIC IMPACT

Victims of intimate partner violence lose a total of 8.0 million days of paid work each year.

The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $8.3 billion per year.6

Between 21-60% of victims of intimate partner violence lose their jobs due to reasons stemming from the abuse.

Between 2003 and 2008, 142 women were murdered in their workplace by their abuser, 78% of women killed in the workplace during this timeframe.

* PHYSICAL/MENTAL IMPACT

Women abused by their intimate partners are more vulnerable to contracting HIV or other STI’s due to forced intercourse or prolonged exposure to stress.

Studies suggest that there is a relationship between intimate partner violence and depression and suicidal behavior.

Physical, mental, and sexual and reproductive health effects have been linked with intimate partner violence including adolescent pregnancy, unintended pregnancy in general, miscarriage, stillbirth, intrauterine hemorrhage, nutritional deficiency, abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal problems, neurological disorders, chronic pain, disability, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as noncommunicable diseases such as hypertension, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Victims of domestic violence are also at higher risk for developing addictions to alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.

Beyond IPV there are many other negative health outcomes associated with intimate partner violence. These include conditions affecting the heart, muscles and bones, and digestive, reproductive, and nervous systems, many of which are chronic.

More information:

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