In order to end domestic violence, it is important to understand what it is, it’s history, and it’s prevalence. It takes all of us to end the cycle of violence, and there is so much we can all do to support survivors.
History of the Domestic Violence Movement
Roots Going Back Centuries
Domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence are as old as humanity. In western civilization, violence against women was legally enshrined from our earliest days. Examples include the Laws of Chastisement, allowing husbands to beat their wives and children, and laws supporting a husband’s right to rape his wife. Local laws often mandated how much “wife beating” was allowed, and the State v. Rhodes decision in 1868 established that battering by husbands and fathers is a private family matter, not to be interfered with by government. Violence against women has also long been used as a weapon of war, colonization and slavery, continuing to this day.
The Birth of Activism
Organized resistance to gender-based violence has taken place at many points in history. Examples motivated in part by women striving for freedom from abuse include the Temperance Movement (alcohol prohibition) and the Suffrage Movement (women’s right to vote). In the late 1800’s, Susan B. Anthony helped women escape from their abusers.
In more recent times, the 2nd wave Women’s /Feminist Movement launched, sparked by the Civil Rights Movement and born in tandem with the modern LGBTQ Rights Movement. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, women came together in consciousness raising groups to share two troubling realities: rape was a common experience and intimidation, humiliation, and violence were dimensions of many intimate relationships. Activists re-framed our understanding of gender-based violence by asserting that it is an act of power and control, fueled by male entitlement, and the inequality and oppression of women. In the 1970’s, this activism coalesced into concrete action.
Women, often rape and domestic violence survivors, organized hotlines, safe homes, shelters, coalitions, legal action and much more. Some key action dates include:
1972: The first domestic violence hotline and shelter were established in St. Paul, MN and Pasadena, CA respectively.
1975: The National Organization for Women (NOW) established a National Task Force on Battered Women.
1976: Del Martin published the ground-breaking book Battered Wives, giving a name to many women’s reality.
1980: The first National Day of Unity is established in October to mourn women who have died at the hands of their abusers. This became Domestic Violence Awareness Week in 1987 and is now Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
1980: U.S. Congress passes the first Family Violence Prevention and Services Act.
1993: Marital rape became a crime in all 50 states.
1994: The first Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed, providing funding to bolster law enforcement, prosecution and services to gender-based violence survivors.
These efforts and more have sparked many successes over the decades, including a host of legal rights and protections against rape and domestic violence. Survivors of all genders can now turn to organizations across the country for support. The health, human services, and law enforcement professions are likelier to treat survivors with understanding and dignity than in the past. Some communities have begun to explore non-criminal justice responses to abuse and violence. Rape and domestic violence have come out of the shadows, with public attitudes continuing to shift.
What’s Next?
There is still much work still to be done to end gender-based violence. While efforts to improve support and opportunities for survivors must continue, it’s now time to aim upstream. This includes more efforts to educate and mobilize the community to model and teach children about healthy relationships, learn the warning signs of abuse, and build skills to intervene with abuse and support survivors. And it includes ongoing efforts to shift the culture away from rigid gender roles and expectations. We CAN end domestic violence!
Statistics
Domestic violence is a hidden epidemic in our country, experienced by all sectors of our society. It does not discriminate and anyone can find themselves in an abusive relationship. Here are some sobering statistics:
In the U.S:
- Every minute, 20 people are physically abused by an intimate partner.
- 1 in 3 women and in 1 in 4 men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
- 3 women are murdered each day by a current or former male partner.
- Every 14 seconds, someone calls the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
- 1 in 3 teens has experienced some kind of abuse in their dating relationship.
- 10 million children are exposed to domestic violence annually.
- Women between the ages of 18 and 24 are most likely to experience domestic violence, followed by ages 11-17, ages 35-44, and ages 45+.
- The most common ages in men are 18-24, followed by ages 25-34, ages 11-17, ages 35-44, and ages 45+.
- Approximately 4 out of every 10 Black women and 4 out of every 10 American Indian or Alaska Native women have been the victim of rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. These rates are 30-50% higher than those experienced by Latinx and White women.
- Nearly half of American Indian or Alaska Native men, and almost 4 out of every 10 Black, multi-racial and White men have experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
- 26% of gay men and 37% of bisexual men—compared to 29% of heterosexual men—experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
- Domestic violence survivors lose nearly 8 million days of paid work each year—the equivalent of 32,000 full time jobs.
- The lifetime economic cost of domestic violence to the U.S. population is $3.6 trillion.This economic cost estimate includes almost 32 million women and 12 million men who are victims of intimate partner violence during their lives. This estimate includes: $2.1 trillion in medical costs; $1.3 trillion in lost productivity among victims and abusers; $73 billion in criminal justice costs; and $62 billion in other costs, such as victim property loss or damage.
Sources: National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Domesticviolencestatistics.org; Huffington Post; National Domestic Violence Hotline; Partner Violence Among Adolescents in Opposite Sex Romantic Relationships: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, American Journal of Public Health, 2001.