By Connie Colbert
GCU Director of Health Services
It's Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Here are some facts and figures from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV):
Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats and emotional abuse. The frequency and severity of domestic violence can vary dramatically.
Domestic violence in Arizona
- 42.6% of Arizona women and 33.4% of Arizona men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence and/or intimate partner stalking.
- An estimated 304,000 Arizona women have experienced stalking by an intimate partner
- A 2019 one-day snapshot found that Arizona domestic violence programs served 1,539 on that day.
- There were 96 domestic violence-related deaths in Arizona in 2019.
- In 2017, Arizona ranked seventh in the nation in femicides per capita.
Did you know?
- 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the United States have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
- On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. For one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.
- On a typical day, local domestic violence hotlines receive approximately 19,159 calls, an average of approximately 13 calls every minute.
- In 2018, domestic violence accounted for 20% of all violent crime.
- Abusers’ access to firearms increases the risk of intimate partner femicide at least five-fold. When firearms have been used in the most severe abuse incident, the risk increases 41-fold.
- 65% of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner; 96% of the victims of these crimes are female.
- 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the United States has been raped in their lifetime.
- 90% of abusers do not have criminal records, and abusers are generally law-abiding outside the home.
Children and domestic violence
- 1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to this violence.
Economic impact
- Victims of intimate partner violence lose a total of 8.0 million days of paid work each year.
- The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $8.3 billion per year.
- Between 21% and 60% of victims of intimate partner violence lose their jobs for reasons stemming from the abuse.
- Between 2003 and 2008, 142 women were murdered in their workplace by their abuser, making up 78% of women killed in the workplace during this time frame.
What are the signs of an abuser?
Here are some red flags. This is not an exhaustive list, but it includes the main ones to look for.
- Extreme jealousy
- Possessiveness
- Unpredictability
- A bad temper
- Cruelty to animals
- Verbal abuse
- Extremely controlling behavior
- Antiquated beliefs about roles of women and men in relationships
- Forced sex or disregard of their partner's unwillingness to have sex
- Sabotage of birth control methods or refusal to honor agreed-upon methods
- Blaming the victim for anything bad that happens
- Sabotage or obstruction of the victim's ability to work or attend school
- Controls all the finances
- Abuse of other family members, children or pets
- Accusations of the victim flirting with others or having an affair
- Control of what the victim wears and how they act
- Demeaning the victim either privately or publicly
- Embarrassment or humiliation of the victim in front of others
- Harassment of the victim at work
If you are in a relationship with a person who exhibits these warning signs, there is help!
For anonymous, confidential help available 24/7, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY) now.
