Some Statistics on Domestic Violence
Gathered from United Nations sources for a recent campaign in Latin America
More than 50% of the women victims of homicide in Puerto Rico in the years 1977 and 1978 died at the hands of their husbands or ex-husbands.
In New South Wales studies show that nearly one-quarter of all homicides occur between spouses.
In the United States, FBI statistics indicate that m 1984,2928 people were killed by a member of their family. Of female homicide victims alone, nearly one in three died at the hands of a husband or partner.
One in four women in Argentina are beaten by their partner, according to a paper prepared for a symposium on the subject.
In Bangkok, Thailand, an estimated 50% of the married women are regularly battered by their husbands.
Statistics from Jamaica show that 22% of crimes committed against women involve domestic violence.
A three year study on domestic violence against women in Austria showed:
- 19% of 200 women attending adult education classes that were interviewed for the study had personally experienced domestic violence within the previous year.
- 79% of all the women who took part in the study knew of a case of domestic violence in their immediate environment (close relatives, close friends and neighbours). 62% knew of several cases.
- 43% remembered incidents of violence between their parents when they were children.
- 59% of 1500 divorce cases reviewed cited domestic violence against the wife as a contributing factor to the breakdown of the marriage.
What is the value in citing these statistics? Statistics help to make the problem of wife-battering visible. In the absence of information about the scope of the problem, it is extremely difficult to convince the public, governments, and criminal justice authorities that addressing the problem of domestic violence is a priority. As long as we believe that battering
only happens to someone else, or only happens when a husband drinks too much, or is unemployed, or was battered as a child: as long as we continue denying the magnitude of the problem, women will continue to be battered, and to die.
Women's Health Journal No. 6-7, Isis Internacional, Santiago, Chile