General domestic violence statistics
An average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States — more than 12 million women and men over the course of a single year.
Nearly 3 in 10 women (29%) and 1 in 10 men (10%) in the US have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by a partner and reported it having a related impact on their functioning.
Just under 15% of women (14.8%) and 4% of men in the US have been injured as a result of intimate partner violence that included rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner.
1 in 4 women (24.3%) and 1 in 7 men (13.8%) aged 18 and older in the US have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
Intimate partner violence alone affects more than 12 million people every year.
Over 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the US have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
Almost half of all women and men in the US have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime (48.4% and 48.8%, respectively).
Women ages 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 generally experience the highest rates of intimate partner violence.
From 1994 to 2010, approximately 4 in 5 victims of intimate partner violence were female.
Most female victims of intimate partner violence were previously victimized by the same offender at rates of 77% for women ages 18 to 24, 76% for ages 25 to 34, and 81% for ages 35 to 49.
Child statistics
Children witnessed violence in nearly 1 in 4 (22%) intimate partner violence cases filed in state courts.
30% to 60% of intimate partner violence perpetrators also abuse children in the household.
40% of child abuse victims also report experiencing domestic violence.
One study found that children exposed to violence in the home were 15 times more likely to be physically and/or sexually assaulted than the national average.
According to the US Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, domestic violence may be the single major precursor to fatalities from child abuse and neglect in the US.
Teen and young adult statistics
9.4% of high school students reported being hit, slapped, or physically hurt intentionally by their partner in the previous 12 months.
Approximately 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men who experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner first experienced some form of partner violence between 11 and 17 years of age.
More than a quarter (28%) of male victims of completed rape were first raped when they were 10 years old or younger.
Approximately 35% of women who were raped as minors were also raped as adults, compared to 14% of women without an early rape history.
The majority (79.6%) of female victims of completed rape experienced their first rape before the age of 25; 42.2% experienced their first completed rape before the age of 18.1 in 10 high school students has experienced physical violence from a dating partner in the past year.
Most female (69%) and male (53%) victims of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner had their first experience with intimate partner violence before the age of 25.
43% of dating college women report experiencing violent and abusive dating behaviors including physical, sexual, digital, verbal, or other controlling abuse.
Nearly 1 in 3 college women (29%) say they’ve been in an abusive dating relationship.
52% of college women report knowing a friend who’s experienced violent and abusive dating behaviors including physical, sexual, digital, verbal, or other controlling abuse.
57% of college students who report experiencing dating violence and abuse said it occurred in college.
58% of college students say they don’t know what to do to help someone who is a victim of dating abuse.
38% of college students say they don’t know how to get help for themselves if they experience dating abuse as a victim.Over half of all college students (57%) say it’s difficult to identify dating abuse.
36% of dating college students have given a dating partner their computer, email, or social media passwords; these students are more likely to experience digital dating abuse.
1 in 5 college women has been verbally abused by a dating partner.
1 in 6 college women (16%) has been sexually abused in a dating relationship.
Victims of digital abuse and harassment are twice as likely to be physically abused, twice as likely to be psychologically abused, and 5 times as likely to be sexually coerced.
Almost 1 in 10 teens in relationships reports having a partner tamper with their social media account, which constitutes the most frequent form of harassment or abuse.
Just 1 in 5 victims say they experienced digital abuse or harassment at school during school hours; most takes places away from school grounds.
Approximately 84% of victims are psychologically abused by their partners; half are physically abused and one third experiences sexual coercion.
Only 4% of victims experience only digital abuse or harassment. Social media, texts, and emails provide abusive partners with just another tool to cause harm.
Mental health statistics
Survivors are 3 times as likely to meet the criteria for PTSD.
Survivors are 2 times more likely to develop symptoms of depression and 3 times more likely to develop a major depressive order.
Survivors are 3 times more likely to engage in self-harming behaviors.
Survivors are 3 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and 4 times more likely to attempt suicide.
Survivors are 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
Survivors are 6 times more likely to have a substance use disorder.
Firearm statistics
Women in the US are 11 times more likely to be killed with guns than women in other high-income countries.
Female intimate partners are more likely to be killed with a firearm than all other means combined.
The presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women by 500%. More than half of women killed by gun violence are killed by family members or intimate partners.