Intimate Partner Violence in the U.S.

Injury and Treatment

 

Threats and attacks

On average since 1993, for nonfatal intimate partner violence --

• about one-third of female and male victims reported that they were physically attacked.
  
  
• approximately two-thirds of female and male victims stated that they were threatened with attack.

Average annual percent of threats, attempted attacks, and physical attacks in nonfatal intimate partner victimization, 1993-2004
		Percent of victims of intimate partner violence
Type of violence		Female		Male
Total		100	%	100	%
	Attempt or threat	67.8		63.9
	Physically attacked	32.2		36.1

 

Type of threat

Between 1993 and 2004, for nonfatal intimate partner violence --

• one-third of female victims and one-quarter of male victims reported that the offender threatened to kill the victim.
  
  
• 24% of male victims were threatened with a weapon and 10% had an object thrown at them.
  
  
• about 1 in 10 female and male victims reported that the offender tried to hit, slap, or knock them down.
  

Average annual percent of threats, by type, in nonfatal intimate partner violence crime, by gender, 1993-2004
	Percent of victims of nonfatal intimate partner violence, 1993-2004
Type of threat	Female		Male
Threatened to kill	31.5	%	25.0	%
Threatened to rape	0.9		--
Threatened with harm	54.2		44.6
Threatened with a weapon	17.6		23.6
Threw object at victim	4.4		10.7
Followed/surrounded victim	4.0		2.1
Tried to hit, slap, or knock down victim	13.0		11.9
Note: Detail may not add to 100% because victims may have reported more than one type of threat. -- Information is not provided because the small number of cases is insufficient for reliable estimates.

 

Type of attack

On average between 1993 and 2004, for nonfatal intimate partner violence --

• about two-thirds of female and male victims reported they were hit, slapped, or knocked down.
  
  
• female victims were more likely than were their male counterparts to be grabbed, held, or tripped.

Average annual percent of attacks, by type, in nonfatal intimate partner violent crime, 1993-2004
		Percent of victims of nonfatal intimate partner violence who were attacked
Type of attack		Female		Male
Raped		7.4	%	0.9	%
Sexual assault		1.6		0.3
Attacked with firearm		0.7		0.3
Attacked with knife		2.0		7.0
Hit by thrown object		3.0		8.2
Attacked with other weapon		0.7		1.4
Hit, slapped, knocked down		63.8		67.0
Grabbed, held, tripped		52.8		27.3
Note: A total of the detail may exceed 100% because victims may have reported more than one type of attack.

 

Injury

On average between 1993 and 2004, half of all females experiencing nonfatal intimate partner violence suffered an injury from their victimization.

Of female victims--

• about 5% were seriously injured and about 43% suffered minor injuries.
  
  
• about 3% were raped or sexually assaulted.

Average annual number and percent of injuries sustained by female victims as a result of nonfatal intimate partner violence, 1993-2004
			Average annual
Intimate partner victim			Number	Percent
Total			746,580	100	%
Not injured			369,670	49.5	%
Injured			376,910	50.5	%
	Serious injury		33,490	4.5	%
		Gunshot wound	490	0.1	*
		Knife wounds	4,530	0.6
		Internal injuries	7,650	1.0
		Broken bones	13,660	1.8
		Knocked unconscious	5,690	0.8
		Other serious injuries	1,480	0.2	*
	Rape/sexual assault without additional injuries		25,430	3.4
	Minor injuries only		317,020	42.5
Injuries unknown			970	0.1	*
*Based on 10 or fewer sample cases. Note: Total may not add to previous totals due to rounding.

On average between 1993 and 2004, more than one-third of male victims of nonfatal intimate partner violence were injured; 5% were seriously injured and 31% suffered minor injuries.

Average annual number and percent of injuries sustained by male victims as a result of nonfatal intimate partner violence, 1993-2004
		Average annual
		Number	Percent
Total intimate partner victims		124,930	100	%
Not injured		79,570	63.7	%
Injured		45,360	36.3	%
	Serious injury	5,840	4.7
	Minor injuries only	38,580	30.9
	Rape/sexual assault without other injuries	460	0.4	*
Injuries unknown		490	0.4	%*
*Based on 10 or fewer sample cases. Note: Detail may not add to totals due to rounding.

 

Medical care

On average between 1993 and 2004 for nonfatal intimate partner violence --

• less than one-fifth of victims reporting an injury sought treatment following the injury.
  
  
• about 9% of female and 8% of male victims were treated at the scene of the injury or in their home.
  
  
• females experiencing an injury were slightly more likely than their male counterparts to seek treatment at a hospital.

Average annual percent of medical treatment sought as a result of nonfatal intimate partner violence, by gender, 1993-2004
				Average annual
				Female		Male
Not injured				49.5	%	63.7	%
Injured				50.5		36.3	%
	Injured, not treated			31.3		22.7
	Treated for injury			19.2		13.4
		At scene or home		9.1		7.8
		Doctor's office or clinic		2.4		1.0
		Hospital		7.2		4.4
			Not admitted	6.7		4.4
			Admitted	0.5		--
		Other locale		>0.5		0.1
Don't know				--		0.2	%*
*Based on 10 or fewer sample cases. -- Information is not provided because the small number of cases was insufficient for reliable estimates. Note: Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/intimate/injury.htm

 

 

Average annual percent of reasons nonfatal intimate partner violence was not reported to the police, by gender of the victim
	Percent of victims who did not report the victimization
Total victimizations not reported	Female victims		Male victims
Private or personal matter	27.4	%	41.1	%
Afraid of reprisal	15.2		2.5	*
Protect offender	11.9		11.1
Minor crime	6.3		11.2
Police will not do anything	5.6		4.6
Police ineffectiveness	2.8		1.2	*
Inconvenient	2.5		3.2	*
Reported to another official	2.3		2.1	*
Police biased	2.1		1.1	*
Not clear a crime occurred	1.4		4.5
Don't know why I did not report it	1.1		1.8	*
Other reason given	21.3		15.7
*Based on 10 or fewer sample cases. Note: Detail may not add to 100% because victims may report more than one reason and because of values not shown in instances when the small number of cases in category is not sufficient for reliable estimates. http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/intimate/report.htm