TESSA - [ Statistics ]

Women continue to comprise the vast majority of victims. 
Researchers Tjaden & Thoennes published the following in "Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women Survey", National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2000.

• 22% of surveyed women reported physical violence by an intimate partner compared with 7.4% of surveyed men.
• 85% of all domestic violence victims are female; 15% are male.
• Females can be violent toward males, but the violence tends to be less severe.

Interpersonal violence is not just a heterosexual issue.
In the same report, Tjaden & Thoennes stress that …

• Interpersonal violence does occur in the Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans community. 
• Studies suggest that the 11% of lesbian couples are violent and 23% of gay male couples are violent, however more research is required.

Intimate partner violence can be lethal.
Wilson & Daly in 1993 warn that:

• Separation is one of the most dangerous times for the victim.  Most domestic violence related homicides occur within two months of the victim separating from the batterer.

The Colorado Springs Police Department reports:

• Each year they receive 15,000 - 20,000 domestic violence calls.
• Annually they make approximately 3,000 domestic violence arrests.
• During 2004, 9 people died from domestic violence in El Paso & Teller County: 3 females (homicides) and 6 males (suicides).

El Paso County Department of Human Services reports:

• In 2003 they received 9,387 reports of suspected child abuse/neglect.

Family violence is extremely common…

• Gelles & Straus (1988) estimate that family violence occurs in one out of every six households, suggesting that over 32,000 El Paso County households are struggling with this issue.
• When victims seek to leave an abusive relationship, the risk of lethality and serious harm is greatest.
  

Sexual assault (including rape) is extremely common.

• Nationally, 17.6% of women report that they were the victim of a completed (14.8%) or attempted (2.8%) rape (Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women Survey, National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998).
• Nationally, about 3% of men report that they were the victim of a completed or attempted rape (Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women Survey, National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998).

Very few rapes or sexual assaults are reported.

• During 2001, there were 257 reports of forcible rapes to the Colorado Springs Police Deparment.
• The rate of forcible rapes in Colorado Springs is 6.2 vs. a state average of 3. 
• The estimated reporting rate for forcible rape in Colorado is 16% (CCASA, 1999), which suggests that there is more like 1,600 rapes occurring annually in our community. Nationally, this rate is 28% (National Crime Victims Survey, 1999).

Girls and young women are at greatest risk.

• Adolescent girls and young women are at greatest risk for sexual assault:  44% of rape victims are under the age of 18 and 80% are under the age of 30 (Sex Offenses and Offenders, Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Justice, 1997; National Crime Victims Survey, 1999).
• Ages 12-35 are the highest risk years for sexual assault.  Girls ages 16 – 19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault (National Crime Victims Survey, 2000).

Generally, the victim knows the offender.

• In the majority of cases (62%), the female victim of sexual assault knows the perpetrator.  (National Crime Victims Survey, 2000).  Rape by a stranger occurs, but is not nearly as common as rape by an acquaintance, intimate partner or former intimate partner.

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