U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of justice Statistics Intimate Partner Violence May 2000, NCJ 178247 Revised 7/14/00 By Callie Marie Rennison, Ph.D. and Sarah Welchans BJS Statisticians -------------------------------------------------------------- This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.wk1) and the full report including tables and graphics in .pdf format are available from: http://www.opj.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/ipv.htm --------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Highlights Intimate partners: current or former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends Violent crimes include lethal (homicide) and nonlethal (rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault) offenses. Lethal * Intimate partners committed fewer murders in each of the 3 years 1996, 1997, and 1998 than in any other year since 1976. * Between 1976 and 1998, the number of male victims of intimate partner homicide fell an average 4% per year and the number of female victims fell an average 1%. * In 1998 women were nearly 3 out of 4 victims of the 1,830 murders attributable to intimate partners. In 1976 women were just over half the approximate 3,000 victims. * The percentage of female murder victims killed by intimate partners has remained at about 30% since 1976. Nonlethal * The number of female victims of intimate violence declined from 1993 to 1998. In 1998 women experienced about 900,000 violent offenses at the hands of an intimate, down from 1.1 million in 1993. * In both 1993 and 1998, men were victims of about 160,000 violent crimes by an intimate partner. * Considered by age category, 1993-98, women ages 16 to 24 experienced the highest per capita rates of intimate violence (19.6 per 1,000 women). * About half the intimate partner violence against women, 1993-98, was reported to the police; black women were more likely than other women to report such violence. * About 4 of 10 female victims of intimate partner violence lived in households with children under age 12. Population estimates suggest that 27% of U.S. households were home to children under 12. * Half of female victims of intimate partner violence reported a physical injury. About 4 in 10 of these victims sought professional medical treatment. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicate that in 1998 about 1 million violent crimes were committed against persons by their current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends. Such crimes, termed intimate partner violence, are committed primarily against women. About 85% of victimizations by intimate partners in 1998, about 876,340, were against women. Intimate partner violence made up 22% of violent crime against women between 1993 and 1998. By contrast, during this period intimate partners committed 3% of the violence against men. Women experienced intimate partner violence at lower rates in 1998 than in 1993. From 1993 to 1997 the rate of intimate partner violence fell from 9.8 to 7.5 per 1,000 women. In 1998 the rate was virtually unchanged from that in 1997 (7.7 per 1,000 women). Males experienced intimate partner violence at similar rates in 1993 and 1998 (1.6 and 1.5 per 1,000 men, respectively). In 1998 about 1,830 murders were attributable to intimate partners, down substantially from the 3,000 murders in 1976. Measuring intimate partner victimization This report updates findings presented in Violence by Intimates (March 1998, NCJ 167237) and provides more complete statistics of intimate partner violence against men. Data Findings regarding violent crime came from National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The NCVS collects data about criminal victimizations from an ongoing nationally representative sample of households in the United States. Homicide data were collected by the FBI, under the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR). Definitions As defined in this report, intimate relationships involve current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends. These individuals may be of the same gender. Violent acts examined include murder, rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. Definitions of these violent crimes are provided in the definitions section on page 9. Intimate partner violence in 1998 In 1998 women were victims in about 876,340 violent crimes and men were victims in about 157,330 violent crimes committed by an intimate partner . Women were victims of intimate partner violence at a rate about 5 times that of males (767 versus 146 per 100,000 persons, respectively). Women were more likely to be victimized by a nonstranger, which includes a friend, family member, or intimate partner, while men were more likely to be victimized by a stranger. Sixty-five percent of all intimate partner violence against women and 68% of intimate partner violence against men involved a simple assault, the least serious form of violence studied. In 1998 intimate partner homicides accounted for about 11% of all murders nationwide. Of the 1,830 persons murdered by intimates in 1998, 72% or 1,320 were women. Female murder victims were substantially more likely than male murder victims to have been killed by an intimate partner. In 1998 intimate partner homicides comprised about 33% of the murders of women but about 4% of the murders of men. Trends in violence against intimate partners, 1993-98 The rate of intimate partner violence against women decreased 21% from 1993 to 1998. The estimated number of violent crimes against women by intimate partners decreased from the 1993 level of about 1.1 million to 848,480 in 1997. The victimization rate over the same period fell from 9.8 to 7.5 per 1,000 women. A nominal but not statistically significant increase in female intimate partner violence rates occurred from 1997 to 1998 (7.5 to 7.7 per 1,000 women) . Intimate partner victimization rates for males were similar in 1993 and 1998 (1.6 and 1.5 men victimized per 1,000 males), despite some fluctuation during intervening years. The rate of victimization of male intimate partners in 1998 represented an increase from 1.0 per 1,000 in 1997. Homicide of intimate partners, 1976-98 Overall, the number of women killed by an intimate partner was stable between 1976 and 1993 and then declined 23% between 1993 and 1997. The number of women murdered by an intimate partner increased 8% between 1997 and 1998. The number of men murdered by an intimate partner fell 60% from 1976 to 1998 (Highlights figure, page 1 and page 10). Most victims of intimate partner homicide are killed by their spouses, although much less so in recent years. In 1998 murders by spouses represented 53% of all intimate partner homicides, down from 75% in 1976. White females represent the only category of victims for whom intimate partner homicide has not decreased substantially since 1976. The number of intimate partner homicides for all other racial and gender groups declined during the period. The number of black females killed by intimates dropped 45%; black males, 74%; and white males, 44%. Between 1997 and 1998 the number of white females killed by an intimate partner increased 15%. For additional information on trends of intimate partner homicide, refer to the BJS website: http://www.ojp.usdoj. gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm Characteristics of intimate partner violence victims, 1993-98 Regardless of the demographic characteristics considered, women experienced intimate partner violence at higher rates than men between 1993 and 1998.***The remainder of the report examines nonlethal violent victimization, although inclusion of homicides would not affect the findings.*** Among women, being black, young, divorced or separated, earning lower incomes, living in rental housing, and living in an urban area were all associated with higher rates of intimate partner victimization between 1993 and 1998. Men who were young, black, divorced or separated, or living in rented housing had significantly higher rates of intimate partner violence than other men. Race and ethnicity Overall, blacks were victimized by intimate partners at significantly higher rates than persons of any other race between 1993 and 1998. Black females experienced intimate partner violence at a rate 35% higher than that of white females, and about 22 times the rate of women of other races. Black males experienced intimate partner violence at a rate about 62% higher than that of white males and about 22 times the rate of men of other races. No difference in intimate partner victimization rates between Hispanic and non-Hispanic persons emerged, regardless of gender. Age For both women and men, rates of violence by an intimate partner were below 3 victimizations per 1,000 persons under age 16 or over age 50. Women ages 20-24 were victimized by an intimate partner at the highest rate, 21 per 1,000 women. This rate was about 8 times the peak rate for men (3 victimizations per 1,000 men ages 25-34). Household income Women living in households with lower annual household incomes experienced intimate partner violence at significantly higher rates than women in households with higher annual incomes. Intimate partners victimized women living in households with the lowest annual household income at a rate nearly 7 times that of women living in households with the highest annual household income (20 versus 3 per 1,000). No discernible relationship emerged between intimate partner violence against males and household income. Marital status For both men and women, divorced or separated persons were subjected to the highest rates of intimate partner victimization, followed by never- married persons . Because the NCVS reflects a respondent's marital status at the time of the interview, it is not possible to determine whether a person was separated or divorced at the time of the victimization or whether separation or divorce followed the violence. Home ownership Intimate partner victimization rates were significantly higher for persons living in rental housing regardless of the victim's gender . Females residing in rental housing were victimized by intimate partner violence at more than 3 times the rate of women living in owned housing, and males residing in rental housing were victimized by an intimate partner at more than twice the rate of men living in purchased housing. Urban, suburban, and rural households Women in urban areas were victims of intimate partner violence at significantly higher rates than suburban women and at somewhat higher rates than rural women. Ten per thousand urban women were victims of intimate partner violence compared to 8 per 1,000 women in suburban and rural areas between 1993 and 1998. Urban and suburban males were victims of intimate partner violence at similar rates. Men in urban areas experienced violence at a rate slightly higher than that of men in rural areas. No significant difference emerged between the rates for suburban and rural men. The nature of intimate partner victimization Location and time Between 1993 and 1998 almost two-thirds of intimate partner violence against women, and about half of all intimate partner violence against men, occurred in the victim's home. Intimate partner violence occurred most often between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., accounting for about 6 in 10 female and male victimizations by intimate partners (60% and 59%). Children younger than 12 present in the household Between 1993 and 1998 children under the age of 12 resided in 43% of the households where intimate partner violence occurred. Population estimates suggest that in general, 27% of households in the United States were home to children under the age 12. This study is not able to determine the extent to which young children witnessed intimate partner violence. Injuries and treatment Between 1993 and 1998, about two-thirds of the male and female victims of intimate partner violence were physically attacked. The remaining third were victims of threats or attempted violence. Though percentages of males and females being attacked were similar, the outcome of these attacks differed. Fifty percent of female victims of intimate partner violence were injured by an intimate partner versus 32% of male victims. Among those injured, similar percentages of men and women suffered serious injuries (4% and 5%, respectively). A significantly higher percentage of women than men sustained minor injuries (more than 4 in 10 females and fewer than 3 in 10 males). Most victims injured by an intimate partner did not report seeking professional medical treatment for their injuries. About 6 in 10 female and male victims of intimate partner violence were injured but not treated. In general, injuries were minor, involving cuts and bruises. Most of those injured who were treated received care at home or at the scene of the victimization (17% of women and 24% of men). Reporting to police About half of all victims of intimate partner violence between 1993 and 1998 reported the violence to law enforcement authorities (53% of women and 46% of men). The percentage of victims reporting to police differed by race and ethnicity. Black women (67%) reported their victimization to police at significantly higher percentages than black men (48%), white men (45%), and white women (50%). No difference in white male and female percentages reporting emerged (45% versus 50%). Hispanic females reported intimate partner violence to the police at higher percentages than did non-Hispanic females (65% versus 52%). Among victims of violence by an intimate partner, the percentage of women who reported the crime was greater in 1998 (59%) than in 1993 (48%). There was no significant difference between 1993 and 1998 in the percentage of men's reporting their victimization to the police. In 1997 and 1998 a significantly higher percentage of female intimate partner violence victims reported the victimizations to the police than did not. Prior to 1997 similar percentages of females reported and did not report. For males, for all years but 1997, approximately half the victims did not report their victimization to the police. In 1997 a slightly higher percentage of male victims did not report to the authorities. About half of the male victims' reasons and a third of the female victims' reasons for not reporting their intimate partner victimization to the police was because it was a "private or personal matter". While this reason was the most often given by both male and female victims, it was given by male victims in a significantly higher percentage than female victims. Fear of reprisal by the perpetrator made up 19% of the reasons females did not report their victimization to the police. About 1 in 10 male victims and fewer than 1 in 10 female victims said they did not report the crime to the police because they did not want to get the offender in trouble with the law. Methodology Except for homicide data obtained from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, this report presents data from the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey. The NCVS gathers data about crimes using an ongoing, nationally representative sample of households in the United States. NCVS data include information about crime victims (age, gender, race, ethnicity, marital status, income, and educational level), criminal offenders (gender, race, approximate age, and victim-offender relations) and the nature of the crime (for example, time and place of occurrence, use of weapons, nature of injury, and economic consequences). NCVS victimization data include incidents reported and not reported to police. Between 1993 and 1998 approximately 293,400 households and 574,000 individuals age 12 or older were interviewed. For the NCVS data presented, response rates varied between 93% and 96% of eligible households, and between 89% and 92% of eligible individuals. The 1998 data presented in this report were collected during the calendar year being estimated. Data for 1993 to 1997 are based on crimes occurring during the year. Definitions of intimate partner Intimate partner relationships involve current spouses, former spouses, current boy/girlfriends, or former boy/girlfriends. Individuals involved in an intimate partner relationship may be of the same gender. The FBI does not report former boy/girlfriends in categories separate from current boy/girlfriends. Rather, are included in the boy/girlfriend category during the data collection process. The FBI, through the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), and BJS, using the NCVS, gather information about the victim's and offender's relationship, using different relationship categories. In this report responses to the victim-offender from both datasets are collapsed into four relationship groups: intimate, friend/acquaintance, other family, and stranger. These groups are created from following original response categories: NCVS categories SHR categories Intimate Spouse Husband/wife Ex-spouse Common-law husband or wife Boyfriend/girlfriend Ex-husband/ex-wife Ex-girlfriend/ex-boyfriend Boyfriend/girlfriend Homosexual relationship Friend/ Friend/ex-friend Acquaintance acquaintance Roommate/boarder Friend Schoolmate Neighbor Neighbor Employee Someone at work/customer Employer Other non-relative Other known Other family Parent or step parent Mother/father Own child or stepchild Son/daugther Brother/sister Brother/sister Other relative In-law Stepfather/stepmother Stepson/stepdaugther Other family Stranger Stranger Stranger Known by sight only Because the NCVS samples households, it does not capture the experiences of homeless individuals or those living in institutional settings such as homeless or battered persons' shelters. The experiences and estimates of intimate partner violence in this report reflect those of the individuals residing in households. The exact impact of this sampling limitation is unknown. Several studies estimate the impact that intimate partner violence has on homelessness or on residing in shelters for homeless or battered persons. One study suggested that 50% of homeless women and children became homeless after fleeing abuse (Zorza, 1991). A 1998 study conducted in 10 cities in the United States estimated that of 777 homeless parents (most of whom were mothers) 22% stated they left their previous home due to intimate partner violence (Homes for the Homeless, 1998). A survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors suggested that 46% felt that intimate partner violence was a primary cause of homelessness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 1998). Standard error computations for NCVS estimates Comparisons of percentages and rates in this report were tested to determine if differences were statistically significant. Differences described in the text as higher, lower, or different and changes over time characterized as having increased or decreased passed a hypothesis test at the .05 level of statistical significance (95%-confidence level). That is, the tested difference in the estimates was greater than twice the standard error of that difference. For comparisons that were statistically significant at the .10 level of statistical significance (90%-confidence level), the terms somewhat different, marginally different, or slight difference are used to note the nature of the difference. Caution is required when comparing estimates not explicitly discussed in the text. What may appear to be large differences may not test as statistically significant at the 95%- or the 90%- confidence level. Significance testing calculations were conducted at the Bureau of Justice Statistics using statistical programs developed specifically for the NCVS by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. These programs take into consideration many aspects of the complex NCVS sample design when calculating generalized variance estimates. FBI homicide data Homicide data presented in this report are collected by the FBI, under the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR). The homicide data provide incident-level data on about 92% of the homicides in the United States, including the victim and offender relationship. Definitions An important consideration in generating intimate partner violence estimates using NCVS data is the treatment of "series data." Series data are defined as six or more incidents similar in nature, for which the victim is unable to furnish details of each incident separately. Because no information for each incident is available, information on the most recent incident in the series is collected. Generally, series victimizations represent 6%-7% of all violent victimizations recorded by the NCVS, though some variation exists among the types of crime and victim characteristics. Series crimes are problematic in estimation because how or whether these victimizations should be combined with the other crime incidents is unclear. BJS continues to study how these types of victimizations should be handled in our published estimates. Currently, series victimizations are excluded from the annual BJS estimates but included in Special Reports. In addition, series data are included for analyses where repeat victimization is an important aspect of the subject being analyzed. This report includes series victimizations in estimation of intimate partner violence, counting a series as one victimization. Violent acts covered in this report include murder, rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault. Definitions used in this report are as follows: * Murder and non-negligent manslaughter is defined as the willful killing of one human being by another. * Rape is forced sexual intercourse, including both psychological coercion and physical force. Forced sexual intercourse means vaginal, anal, or oral penetration by the offender(s). This category includes incidents where the penetration is from a foreign object such as a bottle. Also included are attempted rapes, male and female victims, and heterosexual and homosexual rape. * Sexual assault covers a wide range of victimizations, distinct from rape or attempted rape. These crimes include completed or attempted attacks generally involving unwanted sexual contact between the victim and offender. Sexual assaults may or may not involve force and include such things as grabbing or fondling. Sexual assault also includes verbal threats. * Robbery is a completed or attempted theft directly from a person, of property or cash by force or threat of force, with or without a weapons, and with or without an injury. * Aggravated assault is defined as a completed or attempted attack with a weapon, regardless of whether or not an injury occurred, and an attack without a weapon in which the victim is seriously injured. * Simple assault is an attack without a weapon resulting either in no injury, minor injury (such as bruises, black eyes, cuts, scratches, or swelling) or an undetermined injury requiring less than 2 days of hospitalization. Simple assaults also include attempted assaults without a weapon. References Homes for the Homeless. Ten Cities 1997-1998: A Snapshot of Family Homelessness Across America. Available from Homes for the Homeless & the Institute for Children and Poverty, 36 Cooper Square, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003; 212/529-5252. Homicide Trends in the United States, a section of the BJS website, http:// www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide /homtrnd.htm U.S. Conference of Mayors. A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities: 1998. Washington, DC. Violence by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends. BJS report, NCJ 167237, March 1998. Zorza, Joan. "Woman Battering: A Major Cause of Homelessness," in Clearinghouse Review. Vol. 25, no. 4, 1991. The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D., is director. BJS Special Reports address a specific topic in depth from one or more datasets that cover many topics. Callie Marie Rennison, Ph.D., and Sarah Welchans wrote this report. Cathy Maston provided statistical review. Tina Dorsey produced and edited the report under the supervision of Tom Hester. Jayne Robinson prepared the report for final publication. May 2000, NCJ 178247 The primary source of data for tables presented in this report is the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Data for lethal violence or homicide were collected by the FBI, under the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR). Data presented in this report can be obtained from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan, 1-800-999-0960. When at the archive site, search for dataset ICPSR 6406. The archive may also be accessed through the BJS website, where the report, data, and supporting documentation are available: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ End of file Revised 7/14/00 ih