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Books Violence Against Women
Magazines What are the types of violence against women? ISO-8859-1
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Personal Health Violence against women encompasses a subset of
Care family and intimate violence including threatening or Search
Video (DVD) actual use of physical, psychological or sexual abuse
Audio (CD & MP3) against a woman by her family members or other
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intimates. Commonly referenced behaviors included
within the broad category of violence against women
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include: homicide, domestic violence, partner abuse,
Preconception psychological abuse, dating violence, same-sex
Pregnancy violence, spousal abuse, woman battering, elder abuse,
Birth courtship violence, sexual assault, date rape, Top of Form
Postpartum acquaintance rape, marital rape, and stranger rape. 906167025
Financial Matters Some of the root causes of Domestic Violence include:
Birth Stories power and control, growing up in a cycle of violence
World Birth and abuse, and a distorted concept of manhood.
Women's Issues
Daddy Are some women more at risk for physical assault
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Humor than others?
News http://w w w .aw e
Grandparents Physical assaults by someone known to the victim is a
leading cause of injury to women. In various studies, My_Web_Form
estimates of assaults on women by partners or
Resources cohabitants range from 1.1 million to almost 4 million
1
Ask the Experts per year. Some pregnant women are at risk for
Locate a Doula physical violence inflicted by partners. Based on
information gathered in public and private health care name,email
Research Links
Newsletters settings, estimates of violence directed towards women
during pregnancy have ranged from 0.9 to 20.1
percent. Population-based estimates of this problem
have not been available. A study among mothers of
newborns has show that women whose pregnancies Interested in
were unwanted were more likely to experience physical
violence.
Pregnancy or Learning
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A 1993 national poll found that 34 percent of adults in
the United States reported having witnessed a man Name:
beating his wife or girlfriend, and that 14 percent of
women reported that a husband or boyfriend had been
violent with them. Email:

Is violence against women all that common?

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Most assaults on women are perpetrated by their
partners, and statistics vary because there are no
consistent reporting procedures from state to state. Bottom of Form
Here are some findings from National Surveys:

• One in four women in America will be assaulted by

a domestic partner in her lifetime.

• Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent)

report being physically abused by a husband or
boyfriend at some point in their lives, and thirty
percent of Americans say they know a woman who
has been physically abused by a husband or
boyfriend in the past year.

• Domestic abuse is the leading cause of injury to

women in America. It is estimated that between 20
to 30 percent of women treated in emergency
rooms are there because of physical abuse by a
partner.
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• Thirty percent of female murder victims have been 33 pages
killed by their intimate partners. + worksheets
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A survey by the Commonwealth Fund found
that 92 percent of women who were physically
abused by their partners did not tell their
doctors. Top of Form
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Does risk for violence against women
change with age?
Violence against women can begin as child
abuse, and some women are never directly cbspregcal

abused while others may encounter multiple

forms of abuse. The majority of elder abuse http://w w w .child

victims are female: in 1996, 67.3% of victims

were female. Types of elder abuse consist of
neglect (the most common form of
maltreatment), physical abuse, exploitation, sidebar

emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. The most

common victim of elder abuse is an older from

woman with some chronic illness or disability,

and the most common perpetrators are adult 1

children, other family members, and spouses.

What is sexual assault? Sign Up
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Sexual assault, or sexual abuse, represents a FREE
physical attack by the abuser that is Weekly
accompanied by sexual violence when a woman Pregnancy
is forced to have sexual intercourse with her Newsletter
abuser or take part in unwanted sexual activity. Name:

How common is sexual assault?

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Sexual assault continues to represent the most
rapidly growing violent crime in America,
Number of
claiming a victim every 2 minutes. The Bureau weeks into
of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization your pregnancy:
1
Survey for 1999 estimates that 383,000 women
were the victims of rape, attempted rapes, and
sexual assaults.
Isn't sexual assault usually by strangers? Sign me up for FREE

No, in fact, about half of all rapes and sexual

assaults against women are committed by
friends and acquaintances. The National Crime
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Victimization Survey indicates that for 1999,
69% of rapes were committed by known
assailants.
Rape is the most underreported violent crime:
28.3% of the 383,000 rapes (or only 108,000)
were reported to police in 1999.
Are there any patterns about which women
get raped or abused?
Young, unmarried, separated or divorced
women and nonwhite women are the most
frequent victims of rape and attempted rape.
African American women experience higher
rates of rape than white or Hispanic women.
What is domestic violence (intimate
partner violence)?
Domestic violence, sometimes referred to as
intimate partner violence, encompasses all acts
of violence against women within the context of
family or intimate relationships. It is an issue of
increasing concern because it has a negative
effect on all family members, especially
children. Domestic violence is not confined to
any one socioeconomic, ethnic, religious, racial,
or age group. It is the leading cause of injury to
women in the United States, where they are
more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped or
killed by a male partner than by any other type
of assailant. Accurate information on the extent
of domestic violence is difficult to obtain
because of extensive underreporting. However,
it is estimated that as many as four million
instances of domestic abuse against women
occur annually in the U.S. About one-fourth of
all hospital emergency room visits by women
result from domestic assaults.
What counts as domestic violence or
abuse?
Domestic violence may be any one or
combination of the following.

Physical abuse is usually recurrent and

escalates in both frequency and severity.
Although most assaults on women do not result
in death, they do result in physical injury and
severe emotional distress. Physical injuries are
the most tangible manifestations of domestic
violence, yet they are frequently not reported
by women and go unrecognized by the
professionals who are mandated to intervene.

Psychological abuse of women is

underestimated, trivialized, and at times
difficult to define. Psychological abuse has been
reported by abused women to be as damaging
as physical battering because of its impact on
the self-image of the victim. It often precedes
or accompanies physical abuse, but it may
occur by itself.

Sexual assault consists of a range of behaviors

that may include pressured sex when the victim
does not desire sex, coerced sex by
manipulation or threat, physically forced sex, or
sexual assault accompanied by violence. Victims
may be forced or coerced to perform a type of
sex they do not desire, or at a time they do not
want it. For some battered victims this sexual
violation is profound and difficult to discuss.

Emotional abuse represents a method of control

that may consist of verbal attacks and
humiliations, including repeated verbal attacks
against the victim's worth as an individual or
role as a parent, family member, co-worker,
friend, or community member. The verbal
attacks often emphasize the victim's
vulnerabilities.

Isolation occurs when perpetrators try to control

 victims' time, activities, and contact with
others. Perpetrators may accomplish this
through interfering with supportive
relationships, creating barriers to normal
activities, such as taking away the car keys or
locking the victim in the home, and lying or
distorting what is real to gain psychological
control.
Economic abuse is when perpetrators control access to the
all of the victims' resources, such as time, transportation,
food, clothing, shelter, insurance, and money. He may
interfere with her ability to become self-sufficient, and
insist that he control all of the finances. When the victim
leaves the violent relationship, the perpetrator may use
economics as a way to maintain control or force her to
return.

My friends think I am in an abusive

relationship, but I am not sure. What are
the signs of Domestic Violence?
Domestic Violence is when one person
purposely causes either physical or non-physical
harm to another. Usually the violent person is a
husband, former husband, boyfriend, or ex-
boyfriend, but sometimes the abuser is female.
About 20% of all the women in this country
have been involved with abusive partners at
some point in their lives. It is a very common
problem and should be taken very seriously.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
• Have you ever been physically hurt, such as being
kicked, pushed or punched, by your partner or ex-
partner?

• Has your partner ever used the threat of hurting

you to get you to do something?

• Has your partner tried to keep you from seeing

your family, going to school, or doing other things
that are important to you?

• Do you feel like you are being controlled or isolated

by your partner?

• Have you ever been forced by your partner to have

sex when you did not want to?

• Has your partner ever insisted on having unsafe

sex?

• Is your partner very jealous and always questioning

 whether you are faithful?

• Does your partner regularly blame you for things

that you could not control or insult you?

• Are you ever afraid of your partner or of going

home? Does he/she make you feel unsafe?

Other signs of Domestic Violence that observers

might see in a relative or friend:
• Being prone to accidents

• Injuries that could not be caused by accident, or do

not match the story of what happened to cause
them.

• Injuries on many different areas of the body,

especially areas that are less likely to get hurt, such
as the face, throat, neck, chest, abdomen, or
genitals.

• Many injuries that happened at different times.

• Bruises, burns, or wounds that are shaped like

objects such as teeth, hands, belts, a cigarette tip,
or look like the injured person has a glove or sock
on (from having a hand or foot place in boiling
water).

• Seeking medical help a lot.

• Waiting to or not seeking medical help for serious

injuries.

• Depression

• Use of alcohol or drugs

• Suicide attempts

A "yes" answer to any of these questions means

that your relative or friend maybe in an abusive
relationship and should get help immediately. It
is important to understand that an abusive
partner chooses to be violent and it is not the
victim's fault, despite what the abuser might
say. Abusers can control themselves if they
want to, as they do with coworkers, bosses and
friends. Also remember that abuse usually
becomes worse over time. Almost 30% of
women who were murdered last year were
killed by their partners or ex-partners. There
are many places you can go to receive
information or help. To find help near you, call
the National Domestic Violence Hotline (800)
799-SAFE, the National Resource Center on
Domestic Violence (800) 537-2238 or local
information for domestic violence programs and
shelters.
Is domestic violence by a husband or
boyfriend the woman's fault?
Abuse is not the woman's fault. Causes for
violence are many, but the blame certainly does
not lie on the shoulders of the woman being
abused. Often, substance abuse is involved with
domestic violence. Over half of the defendants
accused of murdering their spouses and almost
half of the victims of spousal murders were
drinking alcohol at the time of the offense.
IDENTIFIED ROOT CAUSES OF VIOLENCE
Root Causes of Domestic Violence
• Power and control

• Growing up in a cycle of violence and abuse

• Distorted concept of manhood

Root Causes of Violence

• Poverty and unemployment

• Underemployment and economic disequilibrium

• Lack of housing and displacement

• Circumstances of racism and injustice

• Alcohol and substance abuse

• Hopelessness and despair

Is there a cure for domestic violence?

Even when abuse ends, either by repairing the
situation or leaving the situation, survivors of
domestic violence experience a high incidence
of depression and suicidal ideas; they attempt
suicide and have elevated rates of substance
abuse, chronic fatigue, anxiety, sleeping and
eating disorders, and nightmares.

Professional counseling is very important for

survivors of domestic violence.
 Do skills learned in self-defense workshops
really do any good?
Research has shown that using self-defense
measures during rape reduces the chance of a
completed rape; however, those measures also
increase the risk of additional physical injury.
What should I do if someone I know is being subject
to domestic violence?

If you or someone you know is affected by

domestic violence, please call the confidential
NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE
(Linea Nacional sobre la Violencia Domestica):
1-800-799-SAFE (7233) *** 1-800-787-3224
(TDD)
For More Information...
You can find out more information about
domestic violence by contacting the following
organizations:

If you or a friend is experiencing domestic

violence, PLEASE CALL the confidential toll-free
number.
Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at
1-800-799-SAFE.
National Domestic Violence Hotline, 800-799-
SAFE
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence,
303-839-1852
Resource Center on Domestic Violence, Child
Protection and Custody, 800-527-3223
Family Violence Prevention Fund
The Battered Women's Justice Project, 800-
903-0111
The Health Resource Center on Domestic
Violence 800-792-2873
Contributions to this FAQ on Domestic Violence:
Magee Women's Research Hospital/ University
of Pittsburgh, a National Center of Excellence in
Women's Health sponsored by the Office on
Women's Health in the Department of Health
and Human Services.
 Publication date: 2000
Contact NWHIC or call 1-800-994-WOMAN
NWHIC is a service of the Office on Women's
Health in the Department of Health and Human
Services

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