Statistics

• In the United States, a woman is battered every 9 seconds. (American Medical Association, 1991)

•  The American Medical Association (AMA) and FBI estimate that 4 million women are battered every year.  (1993)

• Family violence kills as many women every 5 years as the total number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War ... 54,000 women and men.  (American Medical Association, 1991)

• Approximately 50% of all homeless women and children in the U.S. are fleeing domestic violence. (J. Zorza.  “Women Battering: A Major Cause of Homelessness.”  Clearinghouse Review, 25(4), 421-429, 1991)

• Medical expenses from domestic violence total $3-5 billion dollars annually.  Businesses forfeit another $100 million in lost wages, sick leave, absenteeism, and non-productivity.  (American Medical Association, 1991)

• The following statistics, unless otherwise cited, were compiled by the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office of Crime Victim Assistance and the Supreme Court Task Force Report.

• Between 20,000 and 44,000 Iowa women suffer abuse in their homes every year.

• Between January 1990 and April 1997, at least 66 women in Iowa were murdered by a husband or boyfriend.

• Of the 66 women that were murdered, 29 were known to have left their partner.  Six were killed while leaving.  Two were killed in front of a law officer and two were killed in child visitation exchanges.

• From 6/94 to 7/95, safe shelter was provided to 4,383 adults and 5,684 children in Iowa.

• There are 7 animal shelters for every 1 domestic violence shelter in Iowa. (Bureau of Animal Welfare, 1995)

• Child witnesses of domestic violence are victims of child abuse at a rate 1,500% higher than the national average. (M. Strauss, R. Gelles & S. Steinmetz, eds. “Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family”  Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1980)

• In a 36-month study of 146 children, ages 11 to 17, from homes where wife-beating was a major problem, all sons over the age of 14 attempted to protect their mothers and 62% of them were injured in the process. (Ms. Magazine, September/October 1994)

• 63% of the young men between the ages of 11 and 20 who are serving time for homicide have killed their mother’s abuser.  (March of Dimes, 1992)

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