IPDV: Overview
What is Intimate Partner Violence?
Intimate partner violence, otherwise known as domestic violence, is a crime in California. It can take many forms including physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. Although most assaults are made against women, others, including men, teenagers and same-sex couples can be victims of intimate partner violence.
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1 out of 3 women murdered in the U.S. is killed by their husband or boyfriend
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Intimate partner violence affects at least one out of every four American families.
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Women ages 16 - 24 experience the highest per capita rates of intimate partner violence
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16% of adult men who reported being raped and/or physically assaulted were assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabitating partner, boyfriend/girlfriend or date.
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40% of gay and bisexual men will experience abuse at the hands of an intimate partner. In the National Violence Against Women Survey, approximately 23% of men reported being raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked by a male intimate partner.
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7% of men reported such violence by a wife or female cohabitant. According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics 2004 report, 5.5% of male homicide victims were murdered by a spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend.
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Women committing lethal acts of violence against their male partners are 7-10 times more likely than men to act in self-defense.
A majority of relationships are not abusive. However, on-going abuse occurs in approximately one-third of relationships regardless of sexual orientation, ethnicity, or class. Based on several studies in the early 1990's, partner abuse occurs in 25-33% of LGBT relationships, which is roughly equal to the prevalence of heterosexual domestic violence.