Among all female murder victims in 1996, 30 percent were slain by husbands or boyfriends. Three percent of the male victims were killed by wives or girlfriends. (Federal Bureau of Investigation. (released September 28, 1997). Crime in the United States, Uniform Crime Reports, 1996, p. 17. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

Results of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicate that of the more than 1,150,000 reported incidents of crime victimizations among intimate partners in 1992-3, women suffered more than 1,000,000 violent victimizations, compared with approximately 143,000 incidents experienced by men. For both fatal and non-fatal violence, women are at a greater risk than men of being victimized by an intimate partner. (Violence Against Women Grants Office (1997, July). Domestic Violence and Stalking. The Second Annual Report to Congress under the Violence Against Women Act, p. 5. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

Women of all races were about equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate partner. (Ibid., based on data from the 1995 NCVS)

Women between the ages of 19 and 29 and women in families with incomes below $10,000 were more likely than other women to be victims of violence by an intimate partner. (Ibid., p. 6)

Among victims of violence committed by an intimate partner, the victimization rate of women separated from their husbands was about 3 times higher than that of divorced women and about 25 times higher than that of married women. (Ibid., p. 6)

Proportionately, women were more likely to be injured in violent incidents committed by intimate partners than by strangers. (Ibid., p.6)

There is little variation in the extent to which women living in urban, suburban, and rural areas experienced violence by intimate partners. (Ibid., p. 6)

Females were more likely to be victimized by persons whom they knew (62% or 2,981,479 victimizations), while males were more likely to be victimized by strangers (63% or 3,949,285). (Craven, D. (1997, September). "Sex Differences in Violent Victimization, 1994," NCJ-164508, p. 1. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

In 1994 for every 5 violent victimizations of a female by an intimate partner, there was 1 of a male. Intimate partners committed over 900,000 victimizations of females and about 167,000 victimizations of males. (Ibid., p.1)

Women separated from their spouses had a violent victimization rate (128 per 1,000), over one and a half times that of separated men (79 per 1,000), divorced men (77 per 1,000), and divorced women (77 per 1,000). (Ibid., p. 1)

For homicides in which the victim-offender relationship was known, an intimate partner killed 31 percent of female victims age 12 years or older (1,392) and 4 percent of male victims 12 or older (663). (Ibid., p. 1)

Females were more likely to be victimized at a private home (their own or that of a neighbor, friend, or relative) than in any other place. Males were most likely to be victimized in public places such as businesses, parking lots, and open spaces. (Ibid., p. 1)