Facts on Women's Abuse

• The U.S. Surgeon General has declared that attacks by male partners are the number one cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44.
• The American Medical Association reports that one woman out of three will be a victim of violence by a husband or boyfriend during her lifetime.
• The emotional effects of partner violence are a factor in more than 1/4 of female suicide attempts and are a leading cause of substance abuse in adult women.
• Experts estimate that 5 million children per year witness an assault on their mothers, an experience that can leave them traumatized.
• Children exposed to violence at home show higher rates of school behavior and attention problems, aggression, substance abuse, depression, and many other measures of childhood distress.
• More than 50% of female victims of intimate violence live in household with children under age 12.
• Nearly 1/3 of American women (31%) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.
• 13% of teenage girls said they have been in abusive relationships.
• 1 in 4 teenage girls reveal they have been pressured to perform oral sex or engage in intercourset.
• 81% of parents do not believe or do not know that teenage violence is an issue.
• Nearly 80% of girls who have been physically abused in their intimate relationships continue to date their abuser.
• Of the females killed each year, 30% are killed by their husband or boyfriend.
• 74% of employed battered women were harassed by their partner while they were at work.
• Not to be misunderstood, "women of all races and economic backgrounds were equally vulerable to attacks by their partners.

Sources: LoveIsNotAbuse.com; Bancroft, Lundy. Why Does He Do That. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2002