Domestic violence – is a pattern of controlling behaviors that may include physical, sexual, financial and/or emotional abuse. From isolation, put-downs and stalking to battery and murder, abuse by an intimate partner knows no socioeconomic or racial boundaries – it can happen to anyone and affects everyone!

Please keep in mind that many incidents of intimate partner violence/domestic violence are never reported, thus these numbers are typically viewed as greatly underestimating the true nature of this epidemic.

Collier County: ¹

• 40% of all violent crime in Collier County, Florida, is domestic violence crime
• In 2005, 1,822 cases of domestic violence were reported to the Collier County Domestic Violence Unit

Florida: ²

• In 2004, 119,772 domestic violence incidents were reported, including 184 murders; 111,573 assaults; 4,551 threats and 751 reports of stalking
• 30,427 of the victims were the spouse of the abuser; 36,289 cohabitated with the abuser; and  9,213 were the child of the abuser
• During 2003, 19% of murders were domestic violence related – 59% of the victims were the spouse or cohabitating partner of the perpetrator and 13% were children
• In FY 2003-2004, 43% of domestic violence murder victims had previously reported intimate partner abuse incidents
• 87% of perpetrators of domestic violence murders were male
• 70% of domestic violence murder victims were female

United States: ³

• 1 in 4 women will be abused at sometime in their lives
• In 2001, 85% of domestic violence victims were women
• According to the FBI during 2001, nearly 4 women were murdered each day as a result of domestic violence
• From 1992 through 2000, 54% of intimate partner violence was reported to police while only 24% of rape or sexual assaults was reported
• Women between 16 and 24 years of age experience the highest rate of domestic violence
• Marital rape accounts for 25% of all rapes, affecting more than 75,000 women annually
• 1 in 4 girls will be sexually assaulted before 18 years of age
• Between 20-50% of dating relationships exhibit the same kinds of escalating violence as marital relationships

What happens in the home is everyone’s business: ⁴

• Costs associated with intimate partner violence exceed $5.8 billion each year, including $4.1 billion in direct healthcare expenses and $900 million in lost productivity
• It’s estimated the domestic violence costs employers $3-13 billion annually
• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, homicide is the leading cause of death for women on the job, and 20% of those murders were at the hands of their partners
• 96% of employed domestic violence victims experience problems at work due to their abuse or abuser

Impact on Children: ⁵

• Children raised in violent homes are 1,500 times more likely to be victims of abuse themselves
• In a national survey of more than 6,000 American families, 50 percent of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children
• Up to 10 million children experience domestic violence each year

Globally:

• 1 in 3 women will be beaten, raped, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime

Need help? Call the Shelter for Abused Women & Children’s
24-hour crisis line: 239-775-1101

Sources:

1. Provided by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Domestic Violence  Unit;
2. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Florida Domestic Violence Facts;
3. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Domestic Violence Facts and Duke University Women’s Center, Office of sexual Assault Support Services, Sexual Assault Survivor Survey;
4. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Domestic Violence Facts and Safe@Work Coalition;
5. Family Violence Prevention Fund