Violence & Safety

Over the last few decades, the nation has made considerable progress in addressing the violence and abuse many women experience at the hands of partners, acquaintances, and strangers. Despite this progress, threats to women’s safety continue to profoundly affect their economic security, health, civic engagement, and overall well-being. For many women, experiences with violence and abuse make it difficult to pursue educational opportunities (Riger et al. 2000) and to perform their jobs without interruption (Logan et al. 2007; Riger et al 2000). This report examines many of the major topics that advocates in this area have prioritized, including intimate partner violence and abuse, rape and sexual assault, stalking, workplace violence and sexual harassment, teen dating violence and bullying, gun violence, and human trafficking.

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Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse

Domestic (or intimate partner) violence is a pattern of behavior in which one person seeks to isolate, dominate, and control the other through psychological, sexual, and/or physical abuse (Breiding et al. 2014). According to analysis of the 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), nearly one in three women (31.5 percent) experiences physical violence by an intimate partner at some point in her lifetime.

Rape and Sexual Violence

Sexual violence and rape are alarmingly common and pose a serious threat to women’s health and well-being. One study analyzing data from the 2011 NISVS found that in the United States, 19.3 percent of women are raped at some time in their lives, and 43.9 percent experience sexual violence other than rape (Breiding et al. 2014). Often, the perpetrator is someone the victim knows: almost half of the female rape victims surveyed (46.7 percent) said they had at least one perpetrator who was an acquaintance, and a similar proportion (45.4 percent) said they had least one perpetrator who was an intimate partner (Breiding et al. 2014).

Violence and Safety Among Teen Girls

Youth violence—especially bullying and teen dating violence—is a serious public health concern for girls and boys. IWPR analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey finds that nearly one in four (23.7 percent) girls and one in six (15.6 percent) boys reported having experienced bullying on school property one or more times in the 12 months prior to the survey. An estimated 21.0 percent of girls, and 8.5 percent of boys, said they had been bullied in the past 12 months through electronic means such as e-mail, chat rooms, websites, instant messaging, and texting. An estimated 8.7 percent of high school girls and 5.4 percent of high school boys did not attend school at least once in the previous 30 days because they felt unsafe either at school or traveling to and/or from school (Figure 7.4).

Stalking

Stalking is an unfortunately common crime in the United States. A 2009 study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that during a 12-month period between 2005 and 2006, an estimated 3.3 million people aged 18 and older were stalked; the majority of victims were female, with those who are divorced or separated especially at risk (Catalano 2012b). Another study found that an estimated 15.2 percent of adult women and 5.7 percent of adult men in the United States have been stalked at some point in their lifetimes (Breiding et al. 2014). Nearly seven in ten victims are stalked by someone they know (Catalano 2012b). Studies have found that intimate partner stalkers are more violent and threatening than non-intimate partner stalkers (Mohandie et al. 2006; Palarea et al.1999), and that partner stalkers tend to stalk their victims more frequently and more intensely than non-partner stalkers (Mohandie et al. 2006).

Violence and Harassment in the Workplace

Domestic violence and abuse has profound effects on women’s employment and on workplaces. One study estimates that each year women lose almost eight million days of paid work due to intimate partner violence (Max et al. 2004). For many women, the abusers’ actions lead to a decline in their job performance, causing them not only to miss work but to be late, need to leave early, or struggle to stay focused while at their jobs (Swanberg and Logan 2005).

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking occurs when an individual uses force, fraud, or coercion to induce someone to perform commercial sex acts or forced labor and services (Clawson et al. 2009). Although little data exist to document the scope of human trafficking in the United States, one study that draws on qualitative and quantitative data to examine the size and structure of the underground commercial sex economy in eight cities—Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Miami, Seattle, San Diego, and Washington, DC—estimates that the monetary size of this economy was between $39.9 and $290 in 2007 and had decreased in all but two cities since 2003 (Dank et al. 2014).

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See available state-level data on the percent of high school students experiencing harassment or bullying and dating violence, and state statutes on violence and employment, domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and gun ownership.

View the Additional Data by State

National Overview
	Girls	Boys	Yes	No
Students (Grades 9–12) Experienced Physical Dating Violence	13.0%	7.4%
Students (Grades 9–12) Experienced Sexual Dating Violence	14.4%	6.2%
Students (Grades 9–12) Experienced Harassment or Bullying at School	23.7%	15.6%
Students (Grades 9–12) Experienced Electronic Bullying	21.0%	8.5%
Does State Law Provide Unemployment Insurance Benefits to Domestic Violence Victims?			33 States	18 States
Does the State Have an Employment Rights Law for Victims of Domestic Violence?			16 States	35 States
Does the State Have a General Crime Victim Protection Law?			33 States	18 States
Gun Possession Bar on Individuals Convicted of Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Crimes			21 States	30 States
Gun Possession Bar on Individuals Subject to Domestic Violence Protection Orders			23 States	28 States
^{Note: N/A=not available. Employment rights laws provide victims with leave from work to address matters related to domestic violence and/or provide broader protections against employment discrimination related to the violence. Crime victims protection laws prohibit employers from punishing or firing crime victims who take leave to appear in criminal court, at least under some circumstances.}
^{Source: Data on student dating violence and bullying are IWPR compilation of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Data on state laws for domestic violence victims are from Legal Momentum 2014. Data on gun possession are from Gerney and Parsons 2014 and are reprinted with permission.}

Lifetime Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse Among Women, by Type of Violence
Psychological Aggression	47.1%
Physical Violence	31.5%
Other Sexual Violence	15.8%
Stalking	9.2%
Rape	8.8%
Lifetime Prevalence of Physical Violence and Psychological Aggression by an Intimate Partner Among Women by Race/Ethnicity	Psychological Aggression	Physical Violence
Native American	63.8%	51.7%
Two or More Races	61.1%	51.3%
Black	53.8%	41.2%
White	47.2%	30.5%
Hispanic	43.9%	29.7%
Asian/Pacific Islander	29.8%	15.3%
All Women	47.1%	31.5%
^{Note: Women aged 18 and older. Only whites and blacks are non-Hispanic. Hispanics may be of any race or two or more races.}
^{Source: IWPR compilation of data from the 2011 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey based on Breiding et al. 2014.}


Percent of High School Students Experiencing Dating Violence	Girls	Boys
Experienced Physical Dating Violence	13.0%	7.4%
Experienced Sexual Dating Violence	14.4%	6.2%
Percent of High School Students Feeling Unsafe or Experiencing Violence or Harassment	Girls	Boys
Experienced Harassment or Bullying at School	23.7%	15.6%
Experienced Electronic Bullying	21.0%	8.5%
Did Not Go to School Due to Feeling Unsafe	8.7%	5.4%
^{Note: For students in grades 9–12.}
^{Source: IWPR compilation of data from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey.}


State Statutes on Violence and Employment	Yes	No
Does State Law Provide Unemployment Insurance Benefits to Domestic Violence Victims?	33 States	18 States
Does the State Have an Employment Rights Law for Victims of Domestic Violence?	16 States	35 States
Does the State Have a General Crime Victim Protection Law?	33 States	18 States
^{Notes: Employment rights laws provide victims with leave from work to address matters related to domestic violence and/or provide broader protections against employment discrimination related to the violence. Crime victims protection laws prohibit employers from punishing or firing crime victims who take leave to appear in criminal court, at least under some circumstances.}
^{Source: Legal Momentum 2014.}

Violence & Safety

In this Section

Violence & Safety

Girls

Boys

Yes

No

Students (Grades 9–12) Experienced Physical Dating Violence

13.0%

7.4%

Students (Grades 9–12) Experienced Sexual Dating Violence

14.4%

6.2%

Students (Grades 9–12) Experienced Harassment or Bullying at School

23.7%

15.6%

Students (Grades 9–12) Experienced Electronic Bullying

21.0%

8.5%

Does State Law Provide Unemployment Insurance Benefits to Domestic Violence Victims?

33 States

18 States

Does the State Have an Employment Rights Law for Victims of Domestic Violence?

16 States

35 States

Does the State Have a General Crime Victim Protection Law?

33 States

18 States

Gun Possession Bar on Individuals Convicted of Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Crimes

21 States

30 States

Gun Possession Bar on Individuals Subject to Domestic Violence Protection Orders

23 States

28 States

Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse

Psychological Aggression

47.1%

Physical Violence

31.5%

Other Sexual Violence

15.8%

Stalking

9.2%

Rape

8.8%

Native American

63.8%

51.7%

Two or More Races

61.1%

51.3%

Black

53.8%

41.2%

White

47.2%

30.5%

Hispanic

43.9%

29.7%

Asian/Pacific Islander

29.8%

15.3%

All Women

47.1%

31.5%

Rape and Sexual Violence

Violence and Safety Among Teen Girls

Percent of High School Students Experiencing Dating Violence

Girls

Boys

Experienced Physical Dating Violence

13.0%

7.4%

Experienced Sexual Dating Violence

14.4%

6.2%

Percent of High School Students Feeling Unsafe or Experiencing Violence or Harassment

Girls

Boys