Statistics

Statistics for Adults

• 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner and reported an IPV-related impact (ie, being fearful, concerned for safety, needed medical care, needed help form law enforcement, missed work or school, etc.) during their lifetime.¹
• 1 in 10 women (10.4%) and 1 in 50 men (2.2%) have been stalked by an intimate partner in their lifetime.²
• 44% of lesbians, 61% of bisexual women, and 35% of heterosexual women experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.³
• 26% of gay men, 37% of bisexual men, and 29% of heterosexual men experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime.⁴
• Approximately 1 in 5 bisexual women (22%) and nearly 1 in 10 heterosexual women (9%) have been raped by an intimate partner in their lifetime.⁵
• More than half of respondents to the U.S. Transgender Survey (54%) experienced some form of intimate partner violence, including acts involving coercive control and physical harm.⁶
• Most domestic violence is committed against women (82%) as compared to men (18%).⁷
• More than 90% of relationship violence that is instrumental in the maintenance of control – the more systematic, persistent, and injurious type of violence – is perpetrated by men.⁸
• Globally, as many as 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate partners.⁹

Impact on Children & Young People

• Each year, 1 in 15 children live in homes where one of the parents (or the parent’s partner) abuses the other adult. 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to the violence.¹⁰
• 1 in 3 (31%) children who witnessed intimate partner violence reported being physically abused themselves. Of those children who did not witness intimate partner violence, only 4.8% reported physical abuse.¹¹
• Statistics show that all children who live with intimate partner violence are affected differently. Not all are traumatized.¹²
• Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.¹³
• 17.9% of Maine middle schoolers report that violence in their home, or the threat of violence, has caused them to have to leave home, even if only temporarily.¹⁴
• 8.6% of Maine high schoolers who had a dating relationship in the preceding year report that someone they were dating or going out with physically hurt them on purpose at least once. The percentage was higher for gay/lesbian students (16.4%) and bisexual students (17.2%) than for heterosexual students (6.7%).¹⁵

Maine Statistics

• Advocates from the MCEDV network worked with 12,516 people statewide in 2020.¹⁶
• Of the total served, 612 people found safety in a Domestic Violence Resource Center sheltering program. This represents under 5% of the total number of people served in 2020.¹⁷
• In 2020, 441 volunteers from across the state donated 36,576 hours to help meet the needs of victims of domestic violence, representing a monetary value of at least $548,640.¹⁸
• In Maine, a domestic violence assault is reported to law enforcement every 2 hours and 22 minutes.¹⁹
• In 2019, domestic violence assaults comprised 33.9% of the total assaults reported to law enforcement.²⁰
• Nationally, 56% of all nonfatal domestic violence crimes are reported to the police.²¹

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 Dat Brief.” 2015.
² Ibid.
³ Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. “National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010 Statistics on Victimization by Sexual Orientation” 2010.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ National Center for Transgender Equality. “Report of the 2015 Transgender Survey.” 2015.
⁷ Truman & Morgan. “Nonfatal Domestic Violence, 2003-2012.” 2014.
⁸ Kimmel, Michael. ”‘Gender Symmetry’ in Domestic Violence: A Substantive and Methodological Research Review.” 2002.
⁹ World Health Organization. “Fact Sheets: Violence Against Women.”
¹⁰ Hamby, Finkelhor, et al. “Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Other Family Violence.” 2011.
¹¹ Hamby, S, Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., & Ormrod, R. “The overlap of witnessing partner violence with child maltreatment and other victimizations in a nationally representative survey of youth.” Child Abuse and Neglect 34, 734-741. 2010.
¹² Futures Without Violence. “The Facts on Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence.”
¹³ Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. “Physical Dating Violence Among High School Students—the United States, 2003,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, May 19, 2006, Vol. 55, No. 19.
¹⁴ 2019 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey. “Middle School Detailed Report.”
¹⁵ 2019 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey. “High School Detailed Report.”
¹⁶Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. “2020 Annual Report: DVRC Snapshot.”
¹⁷ Ibid.
¹⁸ Ibid.
¹⁹ Maine Dept. of Public Safety. “Crime in Maine 2019.”
²⁰ Ibid.
²¹ Reaves, Brian A. “Police Response to Domestic Violence, 2006-2015.” 2017.