"Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem that affects millions of Americans.
Intimate partner violence, also known as domestic violence, is abuse or aggression that occurs in a romantic relationship.
- An intimate partner can be a current or former spouse or a dating partner.
- This type of violence can occur among heterosexual or same-sex couples and does not require sexual intimacy.
- Intimate partner violence might happen one time or happen many times over a period of years.
Intimate Partner Violence Is Common
- About 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime and reported at least one impact of the violence (like being concerned for their safety).
- Over 43 million women and about 38 million men experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime
- See more data from CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS).
Intimate Partner Violence Starts Early
Teen dating violence is a risk factor for intimate partner violence in adulthood. CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows that among students who reported dating:
- About 1 in 12 students experienced physical dating violence, and about 1 in 12 experienced sexual dating violence in the last year.
- Female students; lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students; and students not sure of their sexual identity had the highest reports of any and both forms of dating violence (i.e., sexual and physical dating violence).
- More than 16% of female students experienced dating violence compared to 8% of male students.
- 22% of LGB students and nearly 19% of students who were not sure of their sexual identity experienced dating violence compared to nearly 11% of heterosexual students..."
Intimate partners domestic violence
