Statistics and Reports

Myths, Facts and Stats

Myth: Domestic violence does not affect many people.

Facts:

• On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. This comes out to more than 10 million women and men a year.
• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. This includes behaviors like slapping, shoving, and pushing that may not always be acknowledged as domestic violence.
• Physical abuse during pregnancy can lead to miscarriages, premature birth, low birth weight, or physical injuries.

Myth: Domestic violence is just a momentary loss of temper.

Facts:

• Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over an intimate partner through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence. The abuser uses violence, intimidation, threats, psychological abuse, isolation, etc., to control the other person. The violence may not happen often, but it remains as a hidden (and constant) source of fear.

Refer to the Power and Control Wheel on page 10 of “When Violence Hits Home” for additional insights into the interconnection between physical abuse and subtler forms of control.

Myth: Domestic violence is always male on female, or occurs only in poor urban areas.

Facts:

• Abusive relationships can involve people of any race, age, or income level and in any kind of neighborhood. It can be female-on-male and can happen same-sex relationships. It can also affect trans and non-binary people as well.

Myth: Domestic violence is just a push, slap, or punch—it does not produce serious injuries.

Facts:

• 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men have been victims of severe physical
  violence like beating, burning, or strangling by an intimate partner.
• Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.
• 55% of all female homicide victims are connected to intimate partner violence.
• On average, four women in the U.S. are killed in a domestic violence incident every day.
• 98 people in Tennessee were killed as a result of domestic violence in 2018, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
• In total, the TBI recorded 73.568 cases of domestic violence in 2018. Females accounted for 71% of all victims… 10% of the victims were children.
• In 2017, Tennessee’s homicide rate for women murdered by men ranked 5th out of all the states. 63 percent of them were wives, ex-wives,
  common-law wives, or girlfriends of the offenders.

Myth: If the situation was that bad, the person being abused would just leave.

Facts:

• People stay in abusive relationships for many reasons: fear of the abuser, hope the abuser will change, lack of a place to go or the funds to do so, fear of losing the children, etc.
• The risk of intimate partner violence, up to and including homicide, increases when the abused party tries to leave the relationship.
• Domestic violence is a frequent cause of homelessness among women and children.

Warning Signs

This list identifies a series of behaviors typically demonstrated by abusive partners. All these forms of abuse — verbal, emotional, physical, and economic — come from the batterer’s desire for power and control. This list can help you recognize if you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship.

Acts of Violence

• Physical Violence: Slapping, punching, grabbing, kicking, strangling, choking, biting, burning, stabbing, shooting, etc. The violence may be directed at you or at your children or pets in an attempt to control you.
• Intimidation: Making angry or threatening gestures such as throwing things, pretending to hit, etc; using of physical size to intimidate; standing in doorway during arguments; out-shouting you; driving recklessly.
• Destruction: Destroying your possessions (e.g., furniture); punching walls; throwing and/or breaking things.
• Threats: Making and/or carrying out threats to hurt you or others, or reveal unwanted information about you to family members, work, etc.
• Sexual Violence: Degrading treatment based on your sex or sexual orientation; using force, threats, or coercion to force you to have sex or perform sexual acts.
• Weapons: Use of weapons; keeping weapons around which frighten you; threatening or attempting to kill you or those you love.

Other Forms of Abuse

• Destructive Criticism/Verbal Abuse: Name-calling; mocking; accusing; blaming; yelling; swearing; making humiliating remarks or gestures.
• Pressure Tactics: Rushing you to make decisions through “guilt tripping” and other forms of intimidation; sulking; threatening to withhold money; manipulating the children; constantly telling you what to do.
• Abusing Authority: Always claiming to be right (insisting statements are “the truth” or using “logic”); making big decisions without your input.
• Disrespect: Interrupting; changing subjects; not listening or responding; twisting your words; putting you down in front of other people; saying bad things about your friends and family.
• Abusing Trust: lying; withholding information; cheating on you; being overly jealous.
• Breaking Promises: Not following through on agreements; not taking a fair share of responsibility; refusing to help with child care or
  housework.
• Emotional Withholding: Not expressing feelings; not giving support, attention, or compliments; not respecting feelings, rights, or opinions.
• Minimizing, Denying, and Blaming: Making light of behavior and not taking your concerns about it seriously; saying the abuse didn’t
  happen; shifting responsibility for abusive behavior; saying you caused it.
• Economic Control: Interfering with your work or not letting you work; refusing to give you money or taking your money; taking your car keys or otherwise preventing you from using the car.
• Self-destructive Behavior: Abusing drugs or alcohol; threatening suicide or other forms of self-harm; deliberately saying or doing things that will have negative consequences (e.g., telling off the boss).
• Isolation: Preventing you from seeing or making it difficult for you to see friends or relatives; monitoring phone calls; telling you where you can and cannot go.
• Harassment: Making uninvited visits or calls; following you; checking up on you; embarrassing you in public; refusing to leave when asked;
  unwanted attempts to contact you via e-mail or social media, including threats to post damaging photos or information.