Untitled Document

Introduction

Domestic violence (DV), also currently referred to as intimate partner violence (IPV), is not a new problem; it's a very old problem with new labels. Domestic/intimate partner violence, directed primarily but not exclusively toward women, occurs across racial, social, religious, and economic lines. It occurs in virtually every community. While there are risk factors, there is no one predictive profile of abusers or victims. The broader term “family violence” is used to describe various acts of violence in a family: child abuse, elder abuse, sibling abuse, as well as spousal abuse. Domestic violence, on the other hand, has a more narrow focus and is a subset of violence relating to couples who are intimate.

Florida law uses the term domestic violence, and under Florida law, domestic violence is specifically classified as an assault, a battery, certain sexual abuse, a kidnapping, or a false imprisonment, committed by one member of a family or household by another person in the same family or household. Generally, such an act is classified as domestic violence if the perpetrator resides in the home, but an exception is made for two people who have a child together. In that case, one person can be guilty of domestic violence even if the couple have never lived together or been married.

While the vast majority of victims (85%) are women who are abused by males, the term domestic violence extends to those in lesbian and gay relationships as well, and, in some cases, males abused by females. Studies have shown that men in same-sex relationships suffer from domestic violence at rates that are equal to those of heterosexual women. Studies are less clear about the rates for lesbians, but abuse may be underreported or under-recognized.

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Domestic/intimate partner violence occurs across racial, social, religious, and economic lines.

Prevalence of abuse

During the last 20 years, there has been growing recognition in the health care and legal systems that domestic violence is a very prevalent public health problem that takes a toll on individuals, families, and communities. Since most Americans are seen by health care providers at some point in their lives, health professionals are in a unique position to begin intervention that may end the cycle of abuse that so many people suffer. Nurses, and other health professionals, must acknowledge, and begin to recognize, the number of patients in his/her practice that are likely to be victims of domestic violence. They must also begin to recognize the number that are likely to be perpetrators of domestic violence.

In the United States, about 20% to 30% of women and 7.5% of men have been physically or sexually abused by an intimate partner at some time during their lives. Heterosexual women are 5 to 8 times more likely than men to be abused. Domestic or intimate partner abuse occurs in all ages, but women aged 16-24 have the highest per capita rate. Domestic violence often continues into people's older years as well.

It's not only the adults who suffer from domestic violence; the violence often extends to the children. There are no definitive statistics on the number of children exposed to domestic violence, but estimates range from 3.3 million to 10 million per year. One California survey of 30,000 adults showed that 12.5% had been exposed to domestic violence as children. In 30 to 60% of families with domestic violence, children are also directly abused.

The statistics related to prevalence of abuse in the United States are grim:

25% of women have been raped/and or physically assaulted by an intimate partner and 40% of these women sustain physical injury.
6% (about 324,000) of all pregnant women are battered each year, and often violence increases during pregnancy.
25 to 60% of adolescent females experience dating violence.
58% of elder abuse perpetrators are spouses, while 24% are adult children. This is true, despite the fact that reported cases more often name children as the perpetrators.
68% of intimate homicide victims in Florida were physically separated from the perpetrator prior to their death.
Most women who are murdered by an intimate partner had been seen in emergency rooms for injuries in the preceding 2 years.

The CDC has extensive statistics, and information about its programs at this link.

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20% to 30% of women and 7.5% of men are victimized by domestic/intimate partner violence at some point in their lives.

It is difficult to obtain accurate statistics about the rates of violence directed toward men in heterosexual relationships with estimates varying from 15% to 40% of total abuse cases. However, women do batter their male partners. Some estimates suggest that 300,000 to 400,000 males are assaulted or battered by their female partners each year in the United States.

Many authorities believe that immigrant women may suffer from higher rates of domestic/intimate partner abuse than other Americans for a variety of reasons. They may come from cultures that are more accepting of domestic violence directed toward women. They are also hampered by lack of English language, lack of understanding of the criminal and judicial system in the United States, fear of the police, and fear of deportation of themselves or their partners. They may fear losing their children, especially since in some cultures children are routinely given to the father in cases of divorce. Assessment and intervention of immigrant populations needs to be culturally sensitive. It's helpful to have members of the same immigrant population, as well as a trained interpreter, be part of the assessment team.

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Immigrant women may have higher rates of domestic/ intimate partner violence than nonimmigrant women.