Mother snuggling with her two children at homeNumbers

Domestic violence is widespread and impacts families, businesses, and communities across the United States. Educating yourself and others about domestic abuse is a crucial first step to building safe, stable, and thriving communities that stand together against violence.

Emotional abuse

  • 80% of domestic violence survivors experience emotional abuse.
  • 41% of women and 43% of men experience coercive control.

Physical violence

  • 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men will experience some form of physical violence and 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
  • On average, 20 people per minute experienced sexual assault, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the U.S. That’s more than 10 million people a year.
  • Intimate partners are responsible for over half of all female homicides.
  • The presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women by 500%.

Financial abuse

  • 94-99% of domestic violence survivors experience economic abuse.
  • Survivors of domestic violence lose a total of nearly 8 million days of paid work each year. That’s the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs.
  • The costs of intimate partner sexual assault, physical assault, and stalking exceed $5.8 billion each year. Of that, nearly $4.1 billion is spent on medical and mental health care.

Homelessness

  • More than 1 in 3 domestic violence survivors become homeless immediately after separating from their partner.
  • 50% of women experiencing homelessness identify domestic violence as an immediate cause.
  • 80% of homeless women with children have experienced domestic violence.

Race

  • Black women experience domestic violence at a rate 35% higher than White women. They are also more likely to be killed by their intimate partner.
  • 40% of Black men have experienced some form of intimate partner violence.
  • Between 21% and 55% of Asian and Pacific Islander women have experienced domestic violence.
  • More than 1 in 3 Native and Indigenous women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
  • Hispanic and Latina women experience domestic violence at rates similar to White women, but Latina immigrants are more likely to experience DV after moving to the U.S.

Children

  • 1 in 15 children is exposed to intimate partner violence each year.
  • By age 12, 83% of homeless children have been exposed to at least one serious violent event, and nearly 25% have witnessed acts of violence within their families.

Teen dating violence

  • 1 in 3 adolescents in the U.S. has experienced physical, sexual, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner.
  • 1 in 10 high school students has had a dating partner purposefully hit, slap, or physically hurt them.