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Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Elder Abuse: Know the Basics

Course Number: 593

Prevalence and Incidence of Intimate Partner Violence

  • About 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States.11

  • Women are significantly more likely than men to be injured during an intimate partner assault. On average, more than four women a day are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the US.12

  • Between 40–50% of all murders of women in the United States are perpetrated by an intimate partner. In nearly 70–80% of intimate partner homicides, no matter which partner was killed, the man physically abused the woman before the murder.

  • The lifetime prevalence of all intimate partner victimization is 25% for women and 7.6% for men.

  • Each year, upwards of 324,000 pregnant women in the country are battered by the intimate partners, making IPV more common that gestational diabetes or preeclampsia – conditions in which women are routinely screened.13

  • Patients who are screened by a medical/dental professional are 2 times more likely to disclose abuse and they are 4 times more likely to seek help.