Overview of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

The scope of intimate partner violence (IPV) is staggering: About 24 Americans a minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner adding up to millions of victims per year. The national support hotline for victims of intimate partner violence receives an average of 20,000 calls per day—an unfathomable number. IPV is a problem whose scope is broad and deep and destructive. About 1 in 4 women and 1 out of 10 men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. That number is decidedly less that the true incidence of IPV, since a high proportion of victims are afraid to report such violence or seek medical help for their injuries for fear of retaliation by the abuser or for fear that the authorities will not take their reports seriously. IPV has long-term devastating effects on victims’ lives-including the results of homelessness, mental and physical health consequences, increased rates of incarceration and substance abuse. IPV is a pervasive problem of overwhelming importance, with implications for the health of mothers, fathers, children, and public health in general in this country.