Family Violence

Violence against Women

The National Crime Victimization Survey administered by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics collects national data on victimization. The survey was redesigned in 1992 to better capture the extent of violence between intimates. According to the data, approximately one million women per year experience violence at the hands of an intimate partner. Other data estimate that marital rape accounts for approximately 25 percent of all rapes in the United States. Women and girls are sexually harassed, physically abused, and raped by their male partners, former partners, boyfriends, relatives, employers, and teachers, as well as by strangers. Additionally, more than a third of all women who go to emergency rooms in the United States go because of domestic violence, and more than 250,000 women and children used shelters in 1997.

Women who experience violence in their home at the hands of an intimate suffer long-term physical and psychological effects. Such women live in a constant state of fear and develop feelings of helplessness. They may suffer from emotional trauma characterized by depression and anxiety. Evidence suggests that women exposed to long-term violence may have symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A subcategory of PTSD, the battered woman's syndrome, has been identified in women who suffer long-term abuse. The term battered woman's syndrome refers to a series of characteristics common to women who are victims of psychological and physical abuse.

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