September 23, 1999
How many know that the same research which is used to
say that a woman is severely assaulted by her husband/boyfriend
every 15 second in this country, also indicated that a man is
severely assaulted by his wife/girlfriend every 14.6 seconds.
(Straus, M. A., 1977)
How many know that although most Archival research (data
which comes from police arrest reports, hospital records, judicial
reports, and domestic violence shelters usually set up to help
female victims) indicates only a small percentage of male victims
of domestic violence (5-15%), that the vast majority of scientific
Survey research continues to indicate that husbands and wives
are assaulting each other at nearly the same rate, a range from
35 to 50 percent male victims.
(Straus, M. A., 1977; Steinmetz, 1978; Brutz & Ingoldby 1981;
Makepeace 1981; Makepeace 1983; Elliot, D. S. et al., 1985; Straus,
M. A., & Gelles, R., 1986; Meredith et al. 1986; Szinovacz,
1987; Barling et al., 1987; Mason & Blankenship, 1987; O’Leary
& Arias, 1988; Malcolm, G., 1994; Dunn, K., 1994; Coochey,
J., 1995; Carrado et al., 1996; Fiebert, M.S. & Gonzalez,
D.M., 1997)
How many know that when Gender Feminist groups and domestic
violence workers are exposed to these facts they will immediately
minimize the importance of these studies by raising the argument
that even if women do assault their partner it is usually for
the reason of self-defense, yet they produce no scientific research
to support this claim other than some case studies or anecdotal
information. Although limited, scientific research data suggests
that only 10-20% of women assault their male partners for reasons
of self-defense. Domestic violence shelters are likely to see
these women and are less likely to see the 80-90% of women who
assault their husbands/boyfriends for reasons other than self-defense.
Interesting, about 30% of the men said they assaulted their partner
in self-defense.
(Carrado, et al., 1996; Sommer, 1992)
How many know that survey research suggest that women
who are assaulted are 9 times more likely to report to police
and 5 times more likely to tell a friend/relative than men who
are assaulted by their wives. (Stets, J. & Straus, M. A.,
1990) In general only about 8-10% of women who are assaulted and
1-2% of men who are assaulted report the assault to an agency/authority.
(Fontes, 1998) This is likely why archival data indicates more
female victims.
How many know that most assaults between partners are
mutual 48.6%, men only 25.5%, and women only 25.9%. Or that women
are more likely to strike the first blow against their intimate
partner, as reported by women themselves. (Straus, 1997) One study
showed that 83% of the couples studies engaged in “bi-directional
or mutual physical aggression.” (Jennifer Langhinrich-Rohling
et al., 1996).
How many know that 60% of women who are arrested for domestic
violence against their husbands have previous criminal records.
(Jurik, N. C., 1989; Jurik, N. C., & Gregware, P., 1989)
How many know that although the latest U.S. Department
of Justice study, funded by the National Institute of Justice
and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (November 1998)
found that there are twice the number of women who report injuries
from an intimate partner than men, the study nevertheless found
that 39%, almost 40% of victims of intimate partner assault were
men. This percentage comes out to projected number of 834,732
men were assaulted by their intimate partners in a twelve month
period, compared to 1,309,061 female victims.