Relationship Abuse Statistics: Alarming Facts Nobody Wants to Talk About
Relationship violence is a category of personal violence that includes any behaviors within a relationship that inflicts harm or threatens the health, safety, and well-being of an individual.
Domestic violence is otherwise known as physical violence that occurs between adults who are intimate partners (married, formerly married, dating, or cohabiting) and family members.
Spousal abuse could also occur between adults in a marriage or intimate relationship in which there is controlling behavior as well as emotional abuse and it is surprising the rate of this in relationship abuse statistics.
I was starting to wonder if love was worth the pain and work when I stumbled across relationship abuse statistics that shocked me.
The difference between a relationship and an abusive relationship often depends on the actions and motivations of the abuser, but this relationship abuse statistics can help detect the signs of abuse.
In some cases, an abusive partner will hide their violent tendencies to lure a victim into trusting them; however, most abused partners will initially display milder forms of abuse and only gradually escalate to more severe types when confronted or rejected.
General Relationship Abuse Statistics
(The Hotline)
These general relationship abuse statistics are so alarming but have real facts that have been researched and summarized.
Approximately 12 million women and men in the United States are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner each year.
1. One in 10 women and one in 20 men have reported being raped, physically assaulted, or stalked by a partner.
2. About 15% of women and 4% of men in the US have been injured as a result rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner. In total, this means about 25 million Americans are affected by domestic violence every year, which is more than 8 times the number that dies from influenza/influenza-related illness every season (3 million).
3. Approximately 1 million women and men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in the United States.
4. More than 12 million Americans are victims of intimate partner violence annually.
5. In the United States, nearly 2 out of every 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced physical violence from an intimate partner.
6. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that nearly half of all women (48.4%) and men (48.8%), in the United States will experience psychological aggression by an intimate partner during their lifetime.
7. Young women aged 18 to 24 and those who are 25 to 34 years old may be at a higher risk for experiencing intimate partner violence, compared with other age groups.
8. During the period from 1994 to 2010, women were more likely than men to be victims of intimate partner violence.
9. Female victims of intimate partner violence are most likely to be victimized by the same offender at 18-24 and 25-34 years old.
Intimacy Violence Statistics
(The Hotline)
Here are more relationship abuse statistics you should know as intimacy violence statistics.
A staggering 1.3 million women and 834,000 men are raped each year in the United States alone.
10. Only 19% of women who are raped, stalked or abused by their partner show no symptoms of PTSD.
11. Forty-six percent of male sexual assault victims reported that they were raped by an acquaintance or stranger, while 54% said the perpetrator was someone with whom they had a relationship.
Forty-eight percent of female sexual assault victims, including 46.3% who experienced rape and 51.8 % whose cases involved other forms of sexual violence including being stalked said their attacker was an intimate partner (intimate partners defined here as ex-boyfriends/girlfriends or husband/wives).
12. 52.4% of male victims were raped by someone they knew; 15.1% were attacked by a stranger.
13. Estimates suggest that at some point in their lives, 27.2% of women and 11.7% of men will encounter unwanted sexual contact; whereas 13% of women and 6 percent of men experience unwanted intimacy in theirs.
Stalking Statistics
(The Hotline)
These are stalking statistics of people who tried sneaking up on people who were victims of stalkers. It can’t be left out of relationship abuse statistics.
According to the National Victim Center and Network, approximately 16.2% of women and 5.2% of men have been a victim at some point in their lifetime, yet many don’t feel safe from this crime happening again or from its repercussions on loved ones
For women, current or former intimate partners were the most common perpetrators of stalking. For men, however, acquaintances were more likely to engage in this behavior.
Many stalking victims reported they were repeatedly harassed by telephone calls, voice messages, or text messages.
Estimates suggest that 10.7% of women and 2.1% of men will be stalked by an intimate partner during their lifetime; however, over half of the people who have been threatened or assaulted by a romantic partner are female, a rate much higher among women than men regardless whether they were injured while with the stalker
Child Abuse Statistics
(The Hotline)
Children are part of the abuse in the relationship between families and family friends. Hence the essence of this child abuse statistics in this relationship abuse statistics series.
14. In 1 out of every 4 cases involving intimate partner violence, children are present. Up to 60% of perpetrators abuse the children living with them.
15. Many domestic violence victims report that they were also abused as children.
16. Children who are raised in violent homes have a 15 times greater chance of being physically or sexually assaulted than children from nonviolent families.
17. According to the US Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, family violence is one of the major precursors to child fatalities in this country.
Teens and Young Adult Statistics
(The Hotline)
These are some relationship abuse statistics for teens and young adult statistics.
1. Over the past year, 9.4% of high-school students said they had been physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend within the previous 12 months.
2. One in seven women and one in nine men report that they were first sexually assaulted or abused as children. Many of these people also experience violence, rape, stalking, or other forms of sexual assault by an intimate partner during their lives.
3. Almost one-third of male rape victims were first assaulted before the age of 10.
4. Women who were forcefully slept with in childhood are twice as likely to be forcefully slept with again later in life.
5. The vast majority of rapes against women (79.6%) happened by the time they were 25 years old; 42.2% occurred before these women turned 18.
6. 1 in 10 high school students has experienced physical violence from a dating partner, and most female (69%) and male victims of rape or stalking by an intimate partner had their first such experience before the age of 25.
7. 43% of college-age women have experienced violence and abuse in their dating lives.
8. Nearly 1 in 3 college women have been abused by a boyfriend.
9. About 50 percent of college women report knowing a friend who has experienced dating violence, including physical, emotional, or verbal abuse.
10. Students admitted that they would be at a loss for how to help someone who came to them for support after being abused by their partner.
11. Only 38 percent of college students know how to get help for themselves if they’re a victim of dating abuse. Over half (57%) say it’s difficult knowing when someone else’s behavior is abusive.
12. One-third of college students have given their dating partner access to the passwords for one or more digital devices, and these students are almost twice as likely as others to be verbally, physically, or sexually abused in a relationship.
13. Among female undergraduates at two U.S. universities, 20 percent reported that they had been verbally abused by a romantic partner online, a rate higher than previous estimates (which had ranged from 8% to 25%).
14. 16% of college women have been sexually abused by a boyfriend. Dating abuse victims are also more likely to experience other forms of violence, including physical and psychological aggression, and vice versa: those who report experiencing dating abuse in the past year are 2 times as likely than non-victims to engage in violent behavior during that same period.
15. Fifty percent of teens in relationships have been victims of their partner’s digital harassment, compared with 10 percent who say their partner has physically hurt them.
16. Most digital abuse or harassment of students takes place away from the classroom.
17. Most domestic-violence victims are psychologically and physically abused. Many also experience intimacy coercion, in which they’re made to feel like their partner is a part of them, that without the other person’s love or approval there would be no way for them to survive.
18. Intimate partner abuse victims often suffer from various forms of digital abuse. The internet and other technologies give abusive partners new ways to hurt their loved ones.
Mental Health Statistics
(The Hotline)
These are some relationship abuse statistics for mental health statistics.
1. People who have been exposed to trauma are 3 times more likely and 2.5 times more likely (respectively) than other people to develop symptoms of depression or PTSD.
2. Experts have found that survivors are more likely than non-survivors to engage in self-harming behaviors and may be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
3. Substance use disorders are a common problem among survivors of sexual assault.
Workplace Abuse Statistics
(The Hotline)
These are also some relationship abuse statistics for workplace abuse statistics.
1. In 2005, nearly one-quarter of large private industry establishments reported at least one incident of domestic violence involving threats or assaults by an intimate partner against a worker.
2. A significant percentage of employed adults in the United States, 44% have experienced domestic violence at some point during their professional lives. 21% identified themselves as victims of intimate partner violence.
3. Among those who identified themselves as victims of domestic violence, 64% said that it had affected their ability to work.
4. Nearly two-thirds of domestic violence victims reported that their abusers kept them from focusing on other things. Almost half (45%) feared being discovered by the person they feel threatened by or are afraid of, and 2 in 5 were afraid that an unexpected visit might occur.
5. 63% of corporate executives say that domestic violence is a major problem in society, and 55% cite its harmful impact on productivity within their companies.
6. A significant percentage of employees believe that domestic violence has an impact on the bottom line, but executives are less likely to agree.
About 70 percent of U.S workplaces lack formal programs or policies for addressing violence in the workplace.
Domestic Violence Statistics
(The Hotline)
Here comes domestic violence statistics for your collation of data on relationship abuse statistics
We have learned that domestic abuse can happen to anyone and is often difficult to detect, so we take action.
The more we know about the prevalence of domestic violence, the better able we are to work toward its elimination.
1. About 33% of women and 25.2% of men in the United States have experienced some form of intimate partner violence during their lifetime.
2. Statistics show that most victims of high school dating violence are girls who have been physically abused by their boyfriends.
FAQ on Relationship Abuse Statistics
What percent of people are emotionally abused?
21.8% of Americans have experienced emotional abuse from a partner at some point in their lives, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV).
What type of relationship has the highest domestic violence rate?
Marriages or cohabiting relationships are the highest risks for domestic violence. According to NCADV, married women experience more than three times as much intimate partner violence as married men do.
Cohabiting women face a similar risk as married women. However, cohabiting men are exposed to less risk than men who are not living with their partners.
What are the three 3 types of abuse against partners?
1. Emotional abuse: name-calling, threats, intimidation, and gas lighting.
2. Physical abuse: hitting or shoving; sexual abuse: forcing or coercing sex or participating in unwanted sex acts.
3. Economic abuse: controlling finances or preventing access to money; spiritual abuse: preventing religious practices or beliefs.
Final Thought
Sometimes, people fail to recognize the signs of a verbally abusive relationship, or they choose to ignore them.
If you have any of these signs as an ongoing pattern in your relationship, call your local domestic violence hotline for help. Help is available for everyone no matter what ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
It should not be too late to make things better by being good versions of ourselves to our partners, so as not to make this relationship abuse statistics rate go over the roof.