Domestic violence has a profound effect on the lives of millions of victims. The following describes the tragic human costs associated with abusive relationships, and the spillover impact on the workplace.

Facts about domestic violence

• Ninety-six percent of reported cases of domestic violence involve a male batterer and a female victim.¹


• One in 4 women in the United States are victims of domestic violence at some point in their lives.²


• Each year, intimate partner violence results in an estimated 1,200 deaths and 2 million injuries among women.³


• 23.6 percent of women aged 18 years or more have a lifetime history of intimate partner violence victimization.⁴


• The age group with the highest rate of domestic violence perpetrated against them is 20-24. Females between the ages of 25-34 come in a close second.⁵


• About one-third of female victims of homicide were killed by their current or former husbands or boyfriends.⁶


• In 2004, 11 percent of all murders in the United States were committed by a spouse or intimate partner.⁷


• A child's exposure to the father abusing the mother is the strongest risk factor for transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next. Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, APA, 1996


• Battered women are 15 times more likely to be at risk for alcoholism than nonbattered women, and 9 times more likely to be at risk for drug abuse. (Source: Attorney General Task Force on Family Violence)


• Approximately one-fifth of patients treated in hospital emergency rooms are treated for injuries inflicted by someone with whom they have an intimate relationship. (Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics)

Facts about domestic violence in the workplace

• Domestic violence accounts for 25 percent of all incidents of violence in the workplace.⁸


• Women are twice as likely as men to be murdered at work.⁹


• Husbands and boyfriends commit 13,000 acts of violence against women in the workplace every year. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)


• A 1995 survey found that 94 percent of corporate security directors rank domestic violence as a high security problem at their companies. (Source: National Safe Workplace Institute)


• One 1997 survey found that 56 percent of employees in domestic violence situations were late for work at least 5 times per month, 28 percent had to leave work early at least 5 times per month, and 54 percent missed at least 3 full days of work per month. (Source: EDK Associates)


• A comprehensive study done in 1992 found that 74 percent of employed battered women reported being harassed while at work by their abusive partners, in person or by telephone. (Source: Domestic Violence: An Occupational Impact Study)


• It is estimated that domestic violence costs employers over $5 billion annually in the form of increased health care costs, absenteeism, reduced productivity, and related security costs. (Source: Bureau of National Affairs)

¹ U.S. Department of Justice
² Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
³ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
⁴ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
⁵ Bureau of Justice Statistics
⁶ Bureau of Justice Statistics
⁷ Bureau of Justice Statistics
⁸ Survey of Workplace Violence Prevention 2005, Bureau of Labor Statistics
⁹ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Bureau of Labor Statistics