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Fact Sheet: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILDREN
- In 1999, women accounted for 85 percent of the victims
of intimate partner violence -- 671,110 total.1
- On average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day. In 1999, 1, 642 murders were attributed to intimates; 74 percent of the murder victims (1,218 total) were women. 2
- Nearly 25 percent of American women report being raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or date at some time in their lifetime, according to the National Violence Against Women Survey, conducted from November 1995 to May 1996.3
- An estimated 2.8 million children were reported as suspected
child abuse or neglect cases in 1998 and over 900,000 of
them were confirmed as victims of child abuse and neglect.4
- The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse suggests that domestic
violence may be the single major precursor to child abuse
and neglect fatalities in this country.5
- Data from a 1995 Gallup Poll of family violence suggest
that from 1.5 million to 3.3 million children witness domestic
violence each year.6
- In a national survey of more than 6,000 American families,
50 percent of the men who frequently assaulted their wives
also frequently abused their children.7
- In 200 substantiated child abuse reports, the Massachusetts
Dept. of Social Services found that 48 percent of the case
records mentioned adult domestic violence.8
- Children who witness domestic violence are more likely
to exhibit behavioral and physical health problems including
depression, anxiety, and violence towards peers.9
They are also more likely to attempt suicide, abuse drugs
and alcohol, run away from home, engage in teenage prostitution,
and commit sexual assault crimes.10
- Slightly more than half of female victims of intimate
violence live in households with children under age 12.11
- In a 1993 study, the Oregon Department of Human Resources
reported that domestic violence was present in 41 percent
of families experiencing critical injuries or deaths due
to child abuse and neglect.12
- Children who grow up in violent homes can become violent
themselves. Exposure to domestic violence can cause behavioral
and emotional problems that last for a lifetime. Youth violence
is unacceptably high. From 1989 to 1993, the caseload in
juvenile courts rose 23 percent while the juvenile population
rose by less than eight percent. During that same period,
personal offense cases processed by juvenile courts increased
by 52 percent.13
- Men who as children witnessed their parents' domestic
violence are twice as likely to abuse their own wives than
sons of nonviolent parents.14
- One study of 2,245 children and teenagers found that recent exposure to violence in the home was a significant factor in predicting a child's violent behavior. 15
1 Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-99, October 2001 [Return]
2 Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-99, October 2001 [Return]
3 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The National Institute of Justice, Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence, July 2000 [Return]
4 Administration for Children and Families,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ACF Press Room:
HHS News, HHS Reports New Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics,
April 10, 2000 [Return]
5 U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and
Neglect, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, A Nation's
Shame: Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States:
Fifth Report, 1995 [Return]
6 Gallup, GH Jr., Moor, DW, and Schussel,
R. 1997. Disciplining Children in America. Princeton, NJ:
The Gallup Organization. [Return]
7 Snyder, Howard N. Winter 1996. The Juvenile
Court and Delinquency Cases. In The Future of Children: The
Juvenile Court. Center for the Future of Children, The David
and Lucile Packard Foundation. Vol. 6,3 [Return]
8 Hangen, E. 1994. Department of Social Services
Interagency Domestic Violence Team Pilot Project: Program
Data Evaluation. Boston: Massachusetts Department of Social
Services. [Return]
9 Jaffe, P. and Sudermann, M., "Child Witness
of Women Abuse: Research and Community Responses," in Stith,
S. and Straus, M., Understanding Partner Violence: Prevalence,
Causes, Consequences, and Solutions. Families in Focus Services,
Vol. II. Minneapolis, MN: National Council on Family Relations,
1995. [Return]
10 Wolfe, D.A., Wekerle, C., Reitzel, D.
and Gough, R., "Strategies to Address Violence in the Lives
of High Risk Youth." In Peled, E., Jaffe, P.G. and Edleson,
J.L. (eds.), Ending the Cycle of Violence: Community Responses
to Children of Battered Women. New York: Sage Publications.
1995. [Return]
11 U.S. Department of Justice, Violence
by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former
Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends, March 1998 [Return]
12 Oregon Children's Services Division.
1993. Task Force Report on Child Fatalities and Critical Injuries
Due to Abuse and Neglect. Salem, OR: Oregon Department of
Human Resources. [Return]
13 Snyder, Howard N. Winter 1996. The Juvenile
Court and Delinquency Cases. In The Future of Children: The
Juvenile Court. Center for the Future of Children, The David
and Lucile Packard Foundation. Vol. 6,3. [Return]
14 Strauss, Murray A., Gelles Richard J.,
and Smith, Christine. 1990. Physical Violence in American
Families; Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence in 8,145
Families. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. [Return]
15 Singer, M.I., Miller, D.B., Guo, S.,
Slovak, K & Frieson, T., The Mental Health Consequences of
Children's Exposure to Violence. Cleveland, OH: Cayahoga County
Community Health Research Institute, Mandel School of Applied
Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 1998 [Return]
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