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 a 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
- 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
- 19.7% 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
- 7.9% 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 (12%) and bisexual students (10.8%) than for heterosexual students (6.8%).15
Maine Statistics
- Advocates from the MCEDV network worked with 14,199 people statewide in 2022. 12,193 of those were directly experiencing abuse and violence. 42% of adults served had at least one child in their home.16
- Of the total served, 1,030 people, including 234 children, were served through DVRCs’ residential programs (emergency sheltering, transitional support, housing navigation and homelessness prevention).17
- In 2022, domestic violence assaults comprised 30% of the total assaults reported to law enforcement.18
- Nationally, only 56% of all nonfatal domestic violence crimes are reported to the police.19
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 Data 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 2021 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey. “Middle School Detailed Report.”
15 2022 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey. “High School Detailed Report.”
16 Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. “2022 Annual Report.”
17 Ibid.
18 Maine Dept. of Public Safety. “Crime in Maine 2022.”
19 Reaves, Brian A. “Police Response to Domestic Violence, 2006-2015.” 2017.