If you think you are being abused by someone you love, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE for confidential, anonymous help.
Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of POWER and CONTROL perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats, and emotional abuse. *
In the United States, more than 10 million adults experience domestic violence annually. *
1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men experience sexual violence, physical violence and/or stalking by
an intimate partner during their lifetime with ‘IPV-related impact’ such as being concerned for their
safety, PTSD symptoms, injury, or needing victim services. *
34.9 % of California women and 31.1% of California men experience intimate partner physical violence,
intimate partner sexual violence and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes. **
A study of women in 67 California domestic violence shelters found that abusive intimate partners used
handguns to harm, threaten, or scare 32.1% of study participants; long guns were used to harm, threaten, or
scare 15.9% of participants. 39.1% reported that the abusive intimate partner owned a firearm during the
relationship, almost twice the rate of gun ownership in California. Of participants in gun-owning households,
64.5% said a gun had been used against them. **
The Iceberg of Domestic Violence: One of the most dangerous and insidious truths about domestic violence is it’s easy to ignore if it’s not visible. Like an iceberg, there’s a lot more than what is visible above the surface, and that’s true for individuals, communities, and cultures.
Domestic violence is prevalent in every community, and affects all people regardless of age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, or nationality. Physical violence is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior as part of a much larger, systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence can result in physical injury, psychological trauma, and even death. The devastating consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and last a lifetime. *
* https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2497/domestic_violence-2020080709350855.pdf?1596828650457
** https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2497/ncadv_california_fact_sheet_2020.pdf