by Jim Kouri, CPP
The domestic violence rate has declined since 1993, according to a report by the US Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.
In 1993, nonfatal intimate partner violence was 5.8 victimizations per 1,000 US residents. By 2004, the last year studied by BJS, the violence rate fell to 2.6 victimizations per 1,000 individuals.
The Justice Department defines an intimate partner as a current or former spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or same-sex partner. Violence between intimates includes homicides, rapes, robberies and assaults committed by either male or female partners.
2004 witnessed approximately 627,400 nonfatal intimate partner victimizations — 475,900 against females and 151,500 against males. Approximately one-third of these offenses were serious violent crimes — rapes, sexual assaults, robberies and aggravated assaults — and involved either serious injuries, weapons or sexual offenses.
Long-term trends in nonfatal intimate partner violence differ by gender. Non-fatal intimate partner victimization for females was about four victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 and older in 2004, down from about 10 in 1993. Non-fatal intimate partner violence for males remained relatively stable — 1.6 victimizations per 1,000 males 12 years old and
older in 1993, compared to 1.3 per 1,000 in 2004.
The number of intimate partner homicide victims has declined since 1993, with greater declines seen for male victims. During 1993, the number of females murdered by intimates was 1,571, compared to 1,159 during 2004 — a 26 percent decline. The number of males murdered by partners during 1993 was 698, compared to 385 in 2004 — a 45 percent decline.
Overall intimate partner violence during 2004 remained unchanged from 2003, although some demographic groups experienced an increase. During that period the rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence among black females increased from 3.8 to 6.6 victimizations per 1,000 females aged 12 and older. Non-fatal intimate partner violence for white males increased from 0.5 to 1.1 victimizations per 1,000 males age 12 and older.
Between 1993 and 2004, nonfatal intimate partner victimizations represented 22 percent of violent victimizations against females and 3 percent of those against males. Females and males who were separated or divorced reported the highest rates of nonfatal partner violence, whereas those who were married or widowed reported the lowest rates of such violence.
The average annual rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence from 1993 to 2004 was highest for American Indian and Alaskan Native females at 18.2 victimizations per 1,000 females aged 12 and older. The risks also varied by age group. Females 20 to 24 years
old were at the highest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence. Asian males, white males and the elderly reported the lowest rates of partner violence.
For non-fatal intimate partner violence, as for violent crime in general, simple assault is the most common type of violent crime. Simple assault is an attack without a weapon that results either in no injury or a minor injury. One-third of female victims of non-fatal intimate partner violence between 1993 and 2004 reported that the offender was under the influence of alcohol during the victimization.
One-fifth of male victims reported that the offender was under the influence of alcohol.
Both male and female victims reported that their attacker was under the influence of drugs in about 6 percent of all victimizations.
Overall, 21 percent of female victims and 10 percent of male victims contacted an outside agency (police) for assistance. Female victims were more likely to contact a government agency than a private agency. Male victims were equally likely to contact a government or private agency for assistance.
The entire report — Intimate Partner Violence in the United States — was written by BJS statistician Shannan Catalano. It can be found on the Internet at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/intimate/ipv.htm>
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us
DcFather said,
Seems to me the problem is still vastly overstated because as the above indicates, the primary cause of “domestic violence” is false allegations by a female against a male during divorce or custody proceedings. I guess the justice system doesn’t mind being a joke as long as it is a politically correct joke.
One of those statistics probably includes my ex-wife and myself. While it is on their books as male on female domestic violence, the truth is that she punched me out hoping I would hit her back in order to cash in on the domestic violence bias in a child custody case. The fact that I did not retaliate against her assault and could prove she was lying was of no importance next to gender.
Like the prosecutor Nifong in the Duke “rape” case, judges and prosecutors believe it is “better to be safe than sorry”. But “safe” has nothing to do with guilt or innocence or danger to the innocent, but instead is all about their careers. Our judiciary is now of the sort such that those in positions of authority prefer to prosecute the innocent and treat the perpetrator as a victim because it is better for their careers.
So these numbers are nothing more than a starting point. I suggest doubling the female on male violence numbers, halving the male on female numbers, and eliminating entirely the divorce related numbers as probable false allegations.
December 31, 2006 at 8:08 am
amfortas said,
Interesting as well is the numbers per 1000 pop. It seems to be the normal way for reporting crime statistics but when translated to %ages they are miniscule. 6 per thousand sounds a lot different than 0.6%.
The ‘not reporting’ shows that men are twice as likely as women to not report violence. I didn’t read the methodology so if anyone does and can tell, it would be interesting to see if they make a distinction between ‘report’ and proven.
Overall this will be a justification for having spent huge sums of money - and for continuing.
December 31, 2006 at 8:20 am
Ray Blumhorst said,
This appears to be true about “intimate partner violence,” but untrue about “intimate partner homicide.”
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/vi.pdf
(see page 12)
As the scream queens consistently report at d.v. conferences, the rate of “intimate partner homicide” of females has remained relatively constant at approximately 1300 per year (average), while men’s rate has dropped from about 1300 to 440 per year.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/vi.pdf
(see chart on page one)
In the year 2000, 1247 women, and 440 men were “killed by Intimate Partner Violence.” Those numbers are from “Intimate Partner Homicide 1993-2001.”
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ipv01.pdf
See Page 1, directly above Table 1, 3rd and 5th bullet points.
I guess having a place to go to (domestic violence shelter), when a woman truly feels like murdering her husband, really does help save men’s lives. It’s also nice for a woman to have a place to go to that will help batter her husband for her. It appears to really save women the trouble of murdering their husbands.
In Calfornia, and most other states, men are excluded by law from domestic violence shelters and services. Too bad males don’t have sympathetic places to go to when their partners are abusing them so the rate of female intimate partner homicides would drop. It appears men still have to deal with their batterers the old fashioned way, but hey, it keeps the d.v. industry in business, and isn’t that really what it’s all about?
December 31, 2006 at 3:21 pm
wls1 said,
In family court such allegations are taken to show that there’s _conflict_ between the parents, and that therefore one parent must be given complete control of the children. It doesn’t matter that the allegations, as the court does usually recognize, are false: that one parent would resort to such a tactic by the courts’ logic compels a finding that the parents cannot cooperate. If you stand to be the parent that will get sole custody and want to obviate joint custody, leveling false allegations is a sure-fire strategy, as most attorneys and therapists will advise you.
January 1, 2007 at 3:32 am