Jennifer L. Truman, Ph.D., Rachel E. Morgan, Ph.D., Bureau of Justice Statistics

April 17, 2014    NCJ 244697

Presents estimates on nonfatal domestic violence from 2003 to 2012. Domestic violence includes victimization committed by current or former intimate partners (spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends), parents, children, siblings, and other relatives. This report focuses on the level and pattern of domestic violence over time, highlighting selected victim and incident characteristics. Incident characteristics include the type of violence, the offender's use of a weapon, victim injury and medical treatment, and whether the incident was reported to police. The report provides estimates of acquaintance and stranger violence for comparison. Data are from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which collects information on nonfatal crimes reported and not reported to police. The NCVS is a self-report survey administered every six months to persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households.

Highlights:

• In 2003–12, domestic violence accounted for 21% of all violent crime. 
• A greater percentage of domestic violence was committed by intimate partners (15%) than immediate family members (4%) or other relatives (2%).
• Current or former boyfriends or girlfriends committed most domestic violence.
• Females (76%) experienced more domestic violence victimizations than males (24%).

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