Prevalence of Domestic Violence
last updated August 2013
 
Domestic violence is a serious problem around the world. It violates the fundamental human rights of women and often results in serious injury or death. While statistics vary slightly, women are victims of domestic violence in significantly greater proportion than men. In the U.S., the Department of Justice reports that from 1994–2010, 4 in 5 victims of domestic violence were women.[1] While women do use violence against intimate partners, women's use of violence is distinct from men's use of violence in historical, cultural, psychological, motivational and situational ways.
Statistics on the prevalence of the problem indicate that domestic violence is a worldwide epidemic. A 2013 report of the World Health Organization (WHO) entitled, “Global and Regional Estimates of Violence Against Women: Prevalence and Health Effects of Intimate Partner Violence and Non-Partner Sexual Violence,” found that intimate partner violence affects 30% of women worldwide and in the most prevalent type of violence against women.[2]  The WHO estimates that 38% of all women murdered are killed by their intimate partner, although recognizes this is likely an underestimation. It also reports that 42% of women who had been sexually or physically abused by their partner were injured.
Many people view domestic violence as exclusively part of certain ethnic or racial communities, or as unique to certain classes, within their societies. In interviews that The Advocates for Human Rights conducted throughout the CEE/FSU region, for example, people often discussed domestic violence in terms of the race, ethnicity, class, education level or age of the abuser or victim. The group or community identified as the victims and perpetrators depended on the country and background of the person being interviewed. This myth conflicts with research that shows domestic violence occurs in all social, economic, religious and cultural groups.
Statistics relating to the prevalence of domestic violence are critical to any advocacy effort. Statistics can help document the need for certain programs or raise public awareness of the extent of the problem. International covenants signed by many CEE/FSU countries require signatories to collect statistics on domestic violence. For example, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women recommends that states parties "[p]romote research, collect data and compile statistics, especially concerning domestic violence, relating to the prevalence of different forms of violence against women and encourage research on the causes, nature, seriousness and consequences of violence against women and on the effectiveness of measures implemented to prevent and redress violence against women."[3] The WHO reports that over the last decade, there has been a rapid growth in data obtained through household surveys, national health surveys, and demographic and health surveys,[4] among others. The UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, also notes that because of the sensitivity and stigma surrounding issues of violence against women, obtaining quality data remains a problem.[5] A national survey conducted in Georgia by the UNFPA in 2009 found that 75% of women believed domestic violence was a private affair that should not be spoken about outside the home.[6] Based on the data that is available, the WHO estimates that the lifetime prevalence of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence for women in CEE/FSU is around 25%.[7] State-specific information is available in the U.S. State Department’s Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which provides current statistics on domestic violence as reported by the governments of each country and local and regional NGOs, from Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE), which also publishes annual country reports, and the European Institute for Gender Equality.[8]
According the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. has seen a 64% decline in domestic violence over the last two decades.[9] From 1994–2000, domestic violence declined by 48%, following a similar trend in overall violent crime. From 2001–2010, the rate of decline in domestic violence slowed or stabilized, while the overall violent crime rate continued to fall. Additional information on U.S. domestic violence prevalence as well as prevention programs and their efficacy is available from the Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For a list of research and reports on the prevalence of domestic violence, click here.
 

[1] Shannon Catalano, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Intimate Partner Violence, 1993–2010 (2012), accessed August 1, 2013, http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ipv9310.pdf.
[2] World Health Organization, Global and Regional Estimates of Violence Against Women: Prevalence and Health Effects of Intimate Partner Violence and Non-Partner Sexual Violence (2013), accessed August 1, 2013, http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/85239/1/9789241564625_eng.pdf. 
[3] UN General Assembly, “Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women,” UN Doc. A/Res/48/104, 20 December 1993, accessed August 14, 2013, http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm.  
[4] “Measure DHS Demographic and Health Surveys,” http://www.measuredhs.com/, last accessed 1 Aug. 2013.
[5] UNFPA, Dimensions of Violence Against Women and Girls, and How to End It (2013), accessed August 1, 2013, http://unfpa.org/public/site/global/home/news/pid/13634.
[6] UNFPA Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Domestic Violence in Georgia: Breaking the Silence (2013), accessed August 1, 2013, http://eeca.unfpa.org/public/pid/13529;jsessionid=CD332E58191C6550755C0D5BFBB7C3FF.jahia01/cache/bypass/template/news_rss.rss.
[7] World Health Organization, Global and Regional Estimates of Violence Against Women: Prevalence and Health Effects of Intimate Partner Violence and Non-Partner Sexual Violence 17 (2013), accessed August 1, 2013, http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/85239/1/9789241564625_eng.pdf.
[8] European Institute for Gender Equality, Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States: Violence Against Women – Victim Support (2012), accessed August 13, 2013, http://eigi.europa.edu/sites/default/files/Violence-against-Women-Victim-Support-Report.pdf.
[9] Bureau of Justice Statistics, Intimate Partner Violence, 1993–2010 (2012), accessed August 1, 2013, http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ipv9310.pdf.