Violence by Intimates:  Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or
Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends

NCJ-167237  March 1998

U.S. Department of Justice
Bureau of Justice Statistics

Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D.
Director

--------------------------------------------------------------
Note to readers of the ASCII version:  Because this report is a
highly formatted document that relies heavily on the graphical
figures for proper understanding of the text, some sections of
the ASCII version are confusing.  Readers are urged to refer to
the formatted version in a .pdf or duplicated/printed report.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Revised 6/2/98 th

The following BJS staff wrote or verified this report: Lawrence
A. Greenfeld, Michael R. Rand, Diane Craven, Ph.D., Patsy A.
Klaus, Craig A. Perkins, Cheryl Ringel, Greg Warchol, Ph.D., and
Cathy Maston.

James Alan Fox, Ph.D., BJS Visiting Fellow, wrote the analysis
of trends of murder by intimates, using data that he had
prepared from the Supplementary Homicide Reports.

Tom Hester and Priscilla Middleton created and edited the
report.  Yvonne Boston and Jayne Robinson, under the supervision
of Marilyn Marbrook, prepared the report for final printing.

Many people made valuable contributions to this report, by
providing data, reviewing early drafts, and providing
suggestions or comments.  The authors express their appreciation
to these people who include:

Kathleen Creighton, chief of Crime Surveys Branch, and other
staff at the U.S. Bureau of the Census 

Victoria Major and other staff members of  the Criminal Justice
Information Services Branch of the FBI 

Members of the Department of Justice Working Group on Domestic
Violence Statistics led by Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Nol Brennan


Dr. Mark Rosenberg, Director, and staff  of the National Center
for Injury Prevention in the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

In addition, Professor Michael Maltz, Ph.D., a BJS Visiting
Fellow from the University of Illinois, gave helpful guidance.

--------------
Contents
--------------
Foreword   

Highlights   

Introduction    

Trends in violence against intimates   

     What have been the trends in:
         Violent victimization of intimates?
         Intimate murder?

Characteristics of victims and incidents 
of intimate violence   
 
     Who has the highest rates of victimization by an intimate?

     Where and when does intimate violence occur?

Responses to intimate violence 
   
     How often do victims of intimate violence:
         Defend themselves in attacks?
         Call the police for assistance?
         Seek assistance from victim service agencies?

     How often are victims injured in intimate violence?

Profile of convicted intimate offenders 
   
     How many are incarcerated for intimate violence?

     What is the criminal history of convicted intimate
     offenders?

     What role do drugs and alcohol play in intimate violence?

Appendix 1:  Defining the victim-offender relationship   

Appendix 2:  Data for graphical figures  

--------------
Foreword
--------------

In a joint effort by the Justice Department and the Department
of Health and Human Services, a comprehensive review is under
way of the information available to Federal decisionmakers about
domestic violence and possible needs for the government to
undertake enhanced or improved surveillance for statistical data
about violence between intimates.  At the Department of Justice
this effort is being coordinated by Nol Brennan, Deputy
Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs,
and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by Dr.
Mark Rosenberg, Director, National Center for Injury Prevention
and Control.  

This report prepared by the Bureau of Justice Statistics
presents a summary of the statistical information about violence
committed against intimates that is currently available and is
based on information gathered from victims, law enforcement
agencies, hospital emergency departments, and those convicted of
crimes against intimates.  For the purposes of this study,
intimates were defined as those with whom the offender had a
relationship as a current or former spouse or boyfriend or
girlfriend.  The kinds of violent crimes examined ranged from
murder to simple assault.

I am particularly pleased that this valuable report represents
the efforts of both BJS staff and Professor James Alan Fox of
Northeastern University, a BJS Visiting Fellow.  In addition,
the FBI provided valuable support to this effort by supplying
updated Supplementary Homicide Report data in a very timely
fashion.

Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D.
Director


--------------
Highlights   
--------------

This report is a compilation of statistical data maintained by
the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) on violence between people who have an
intimate relationship -- spouses, ex-spouses, boyfriends,
girlfriends, and former boyfriends and girlfriends.

The violent offenses encompass crimes such as murder, rape,
sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault.
Intimate violence predominantly affects women as victims. 
Violence by an intimate accounts for about 21% of the violent
crime experienced by women and about 2% of the violence
sustained by males. 

--------------
Lethal   
--------------

* In 1996 just over 1,800 murders were attributable to
intimates; nearly 3 out of 4 of these had a female victim.  In
1976 there were nearly 3,000 victims of intimate murder. 

* The decline over the past two decades was larger for spouse
killings, compared to the killings of other intimates.  

* The percentage of female murder victims killed by intimates
has remained at about 30% since 1976.

* There has been a sharp decrease in the rate of intimate murder
of men, especially black men.

* The number of intimate murders with guns has declined. 
However, in 1996, 65% of all intimate murders were committed
with a firearm.

* There is some evidence of a slight increase in the rate of
white females killed by a boyfriend.

--------------

Nonlethal  
--------------

* The number of female victims of intimate violence has been
declining.  In 1996 women experienced an estimated 840,000 rape,
sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault
victimizations at the hands of an intimate, down from 1.1
million in 1993.  

* Intimate violence against men did not vary significantly from
1992 to 1996.  In 1996 men were victims of about 150,000 violent
crimes committed by an intimate.

* Women age 16-24 experience the highest per capita rates of
intimate violence.

***********************
Reporting to the police  
***********************

About half of the incidents of intimate violence experienced by
women are reported to the police; black women are more likely
than women of other races to report such victimizations to the
police.  

* The most common reasons given by victims for not contacting
the police were that they considered the incident a private or
personal matter, they feared retaliation, or they felt the
police would not be able to do anything about the incident.  

****************
Police response 
****************

According to victims, about 1 in 5 incidents reported to the
police resulted in an arrest at the scene. 

********************
Presence of children  
********************

Slightly more than half of female victims of intimate violence
live in households with children under the age of 12.  About 40%
of imprisoned intimate offenders report that one or more
children under age 18 resided with them at some time before the
offenders entered prison.  


*********************
Treatment of injuries  
*********************

About 1 in 10 women victimized by a violent intimate sought
professional medical treatment.

* About half of victims of intimate violence report a physical
injury; about 1 in 5 injured female victims of intimate violence
sought professional medical treatment.

* Hospital emergency department data show women are about 84% of
those seeking hospital treatment for an intentional injury
caused by an intimate assailant.  

* About half these injured intimate victims were treated for
bruises or similar trauma.

* About half of those treated had sustained injuries to the head
and face.

**********************
Incarcerated offenders  
**********************

Those who committed a violent crime against an intimate
represent about 25% of convicted violent offenders in local
jails and about 7% of violent offenders in State prisons.  

* 3 in 4 offenders serving time in local jails for intimate
violence had been convicted of assault; just over 40% of such
offenders in State prisons had been convicted of murder.

* The criminal justice system has extensive prior contact with
those convicted of intimate violence.  Among those in jail 78%
have a prior conviction history, though not necessarily for
intimate violence.

* 4 in 10 jail inmates convicted of a violent crime against an
intimate had a criminal justice status at the time of the crime:
about 20% were on probation, 9% were under a restraining order,
and just under 10% were on parole, pretrial release, or other
status.

* More than half of both prison and jail inmates serving time
for violence against an intimate had been using drugs or alcohol
or both at the time of the incident for which they were 
incarcerated.

* The average prison sentence for those who victimized a spouse
or other intimate appears similar to the average sentences for
victimizing strangers or acquaintances.  Prisoners who had
assaulted their spouse, however, received longer sentences than
offenders convicted of assault against other categories of
victims.

--------------
Introduction
--------------

--------------------------------------------------------
How we measure the incidence of intimate violence
--------------------------------------------------------

Estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey indicate
that in 1996 there were about a million rapes, sexual assaults,
robberies, aggravated assaults, and simple assaults in which the
victim and offender had an intimate relationship.   Intimate
relationships include spouses, ex-spouses, boyfriends,
girlfriends, and former boyfriends and girlfriends.  More than 8
in 10 of these violent crimes involved a female victim. 

***********************************
National Crime Victimization Survey
***********************************

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is one of two
statistical series maintained by the Department of Justice to
learn about the extent to which crime is occurring.  The NCVS,
which gathers data on criminal victimization from a national
sample of household respondents, provides annual estimates of
crimes experienced by the public without regard to whether a law
enforcement agency was called about the crime.  Initiated in
1972, the NCVS was designed to complement what is known about
crimes reported to local law enforcement agencies under the
FBI's annual compilation known as the Uniform Crime Reports
(UCR).

The NCVS gathers information about crime and its consequences
from a nationally representative sample of U.S. residents age 12
or older about any crimes they may have experienced. For
personal contact crimes the survey determines who the
perpetrator was.  Asking the victim about his/her relationship
to the offender is critical to determining whether the crime
occurred between intimates.

In the latter half of the 1980's, the Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS), together with the Committee on Law and Justice
of the American Statistical Association, sought to improve the
NCVS components to enhance the measurement of crimes including
rape, sexual assault, and intimate and family violence.  The new
questions and revised procedures were phased in from January
1992 through June 1993 in half the sampled households.  Since
July 1993 the redesigned methods have been used for the entire
national sample.  

Based on the half-sample, BJS determined that the new
questionnaire would produce substantially higher estimated
counts of incidents of intimate violence than the old
questionnaire. The old questionnaire resulted in estimates of a
half million incidents of intimate violence, compared to an
estimate of nearly a million incidents with the new
questionnaire.  Such a difference demonstrated the increased
ability of the NCVS to capture information on hard-to-measure
crimes.

*******************************
Uniform Crime Reporting Program
*******************************

The Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) of the FBI provides
another opportunity to examine the issue of intimate violence. 
The summary-based component of the UCR, launched 70 years ago,
gathers aggregate data on eight categories of crime from law
enforcement agencies nationwide.  The UCR does not, however,
provide the detail necessary to identify violent crimes
involving intimates.  Two other incident-based components of the
UCR, the National Incident-Based Reporting Program (NIBRS) and
the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), provide rich detail on
the victim-offender relationship in violent crimes recorded by
police agencies. 

*****************************************
National Incident-Based Reporting Program
****************************************

NIBRS represents the next generation of crime data from law
enforcement agencies.  Rather than being restricted to a group
of 8 Index crimes that the summary-based program uses, NIBRS
obtains information on 57 types of crimes.  The information
collected on each violent crime incident includes
victim-offender demographics, victim-offender relationship, time
and place of occurrence, weapon use, and victim injuries.  As of
the end of 1997, jurisdictions certified by the FBI as capable
of reporting incident-based data in the required format account
for just over 7% of the U.S. population (about 19 million
Americans) and just over 6% of all Index crimes (murders, rapes,
robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larcenies, and motor
vehicle thefts).  In those States with certified NIBRS systems,
about 50% of the population is now covered by NIBRS reporting to
the FBI.  BJS is currently funding preliminary studies of NIBRS
data and their utility for improving our knowledge of violence
with special regard for such concerns as intimate violence,
family violence, and domestic violence.

*******************************
Supplementary Homicide Reports
*******************************

The SHR is another component of the UCR program.  Under SHR,
incident-level homicide data from local law enforcement agencies
have been collected annually since 1961.  On average, the SHR
obtains detailed information on about 92% of the homicides in
the United States, including victim and offender demographics,
victim-offender relationship, weapon use, and circumstances
surrounding the homicide.  The SHR reports received from law
enforcement agencies describe the characteristics of
perpetrators in an average of about 70% of all cases compiled at
the national level.  However, individual jurisdictions vary in
the percentage of cases in which the perpetrator is either
unknown or not described.  

************************************
Study of Injured Victims of Violence
************************************

Another source for information on intimate violence is a special
collection of hospital emergency department data during 1994. 
The BJS Study of Injured Victims of Violence obtained data on
intentional injuries brought to the attention of hospital
personnel.  These data are part of a larger program carried out
by the Consumer Product Safety Commission known as the National
Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), which involves a
national sample of hospitals where emergency department staff
are asked to record information on patients.  The BJS study
sought information on intentional injury victims, including
victim demographics, type of injury, type of weapon, place of
occurrence, victim-offender relationship, and case disposition. 
The NEISS data reveal that a quarter of the 1.4 million
intentional injuries treated in emergency departments resulted 
from violence between intimates. 

***********************************
Surveys of jail and prison inmates
***********************************

BJS also conducts national surveys of persons confined in local
jails and State and Federal prisons.  These nationally
representative surveys are the principal source of information
on those serving time following a conviction:  their
backgrounds, their prior criminal histories, and the
circumstances surrounding the offense for which they had been
incarcerated.  Both jail and prison surveys obtain from violent
offenders details about the offender's relationship to the
victim and how the crime was carried out.  

--------------------------------------------------------
How we count violent victimizations of intimates
--------------------------------------------------------


******************************
Variations in reported numbers
******************************

Sometimes estimates in the annual National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS) reports differ from those in BJS topical reports
based on special analyses of data.  A major reason for these
differences is the treatment of "series" victimizations.

*******************************************************
Variations in defining the victim-offender relationship
*******************************************************

The data series used in this report share the objective of
measuring the extent to which victims and offenders know each
other prior to the criminal incident.  This is an important
distinction not simply for law enforcement purposes but, more
significantly, for considering the types of interventions most
likely to help reduce the incidence of the problem and its
consequences for victims.  

Generally, all of the data collection programs used in this
study obtain information on those violent offenses which affect
spouses, ex-spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.  While
victimizations arising in same sex relationships are explicitly
recognized in the FBI collection programs, none of the series
excludes such criminal incidents, which are categorized as
crimes against boyfriends or girlfriends.  Crimes committed
against former boyfriends and girlfriends are not separately
reported in any of the series but are combined with those
victims with current relationships of this type, probably
because of the difficulty of establishing whether such a
relationship had been terminated prior to the incident.  

Appendix 1 (pages 34-36) offers the details of how the
relationship variables in each data series were classified in
this study to create the general category of intimate violence. 

**********************
Series victimizations 
********************** 

These victimizations in the NCVS are six or more incidents
similar in nature and for which the victim is unable to furnish
details of each incident separately.  Information on only the
most recent incident in the series is collected by the survey. 

These crimes are problematic because it remains unclear how or
whether these victimizations should be combined with the
majority of crime incidents that are separately reported.  BJS
continues to study how these types of victimizations should be
handled in our published estimates. As a result, series
victimizations are excluded from the victimization estimates
published in the annual BJS reports on the NCVS.

However, series victimizations are included for some special
analyses, counted as "1" victimization to represent all the
incidents in the series.  This is done when repeat victimization
is an important aspect of the subject being analyzed, as it is,
for example, in domestic violence.  For this reason, estimates
published in reports on domestic violence have included series
victimizations, and therefore differ from estimates published in
the annual NCVS reports. 

Generally, series victimizations represent about 6-7% of all
violent victimizations measured by the NCVS, although variation
exists across types of crime and characteristics of victims: 

Average annual 1992-96

                     Nonseries     Series        Total

Violent crime 
victimizations

   Number             10,137,384   680,604    10,817,989
   Percent                 93.7%      6.3%          100%

Rape/Sexual 
assault
   Number                434,566     27,191      461,757
   Percent                 93.1%       6.9%         100%

Robbery
   Number              1,227,550     36,845    1,264,395
   Percent                 97.5%       2.5%         100%

Aggravated assault
    Number             2,230,174    117,167    2,347,341
    Percent                93.1%       5.1%         100%

Simple assault
    Number             6,245,095    499,402    6,744,496
    Percent                93.1%       6.9%         100%

Intimate violence, 1992-96

                       Nonseries     Series        Total
Female victims             88.5%       11.5%        100%
Male                       90.2         9.8         100

------------------------------------------
Trends in violence against intimates
------------------------------------------

More than 960,000 incidents of violence against a current or
former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend occur each year, and
about 85% of the victims are women.  The number of female
victims has been declining in recent years. 

Source:  National Crime Victimization Survey, 1992-96

In 1996 there were about 2,000 murders attributable to
intimates, down substantially from the nearly 3,000 murders
recorded two decades ago.  

Decreases in intimate murders have occurred among men, among
blacks (both male and female), and for murders involving
firearms.  

White females murdered by a nonmarital intimate represent the
only category of victims to have experienced a small increase
between 1976 and 1996.  

Intimate murder now accounts for about 9% of the murders which
occur nationwide.

Source:  Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1976-96

---------------------------------------------------------------
Trends in violence against intimates
---------------------------------------------------------------

On average each year from 1992 to 1996, there were more than
960,000 violent victimizations of women age 12 or older by an
intimate (a current or former spouse, girlfriend, or boyfriend).

* The estimated number of violent victimizations of women by
intimates declined from 1993 to 1996; the number of such
victimizations of men did not vary significantly from 1992 to
1996.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  Each year from 1992 to 1996 there were
more than 960,000 victimizations of women by an intimate


                Number of violent victimizations 
                committed by intimates
                1992       1993     1994     1995     1996

Male          145650     163558   176168   115483   147896
Female        952188    1072072  1003167   953683   837899

Note:  Intimates for the NCVS include current or former spouses,
boyfriends, and girlfriends.  Intimates for the SHR include spouses, 
ex-spouses, common-law spouses, same sex partners, boyfriends, and 
girlfriends.  Violent victimizations include rape, sexual assault, 
robbery, and aggravated and simple assault, as measured by the 
NCVS, and murder as reported by law enforcement agencies to the FBI.
Data are for victims age 12 or older.

Sources:  BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1992-96,
and FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1992-96.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

On average each year from 1992 to 1996, about 8 in 1,000 women
and 1 in 1,000 men age 12 or older experienced a violent
victimization inflicted by a current or former spouse,
girlfriend, or boyfriend. 

* The rate of violent victimization of women by an intimate
declined from 1993 to 1996. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  Each year from 1992 to 1996 about 8 in 1,000 women 
and 1 in 1,000 men experienced a violent victimization by an intimate

                  Rate of violent victimization by
                  intimates per 1,000 persons 
                1992       1993     1994     1995     1996

Male             1.4        1.6      1.7      1.1      1.4
Female           8.8        9.8      9.1      8.6      7.5

Note:  Intimates for the NCVS include current or former spouses,
boyfriends, and girlfriends.  Intimates for the SHR include spouses, 
ex-spouses, common-law spouses, same sex partners, boyfriends, and 
girlfriends.  Violent victimizations include rape, sexual assault, 
robbery, and aggravated and simple assault, as measured by the 
NCVS, and murder as reported by law enforcement agencies to the FBI.
Data are for victims age 12 or older.

Sources:  BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1992-96,
and FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1992-96.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Although less likely than males to experience violent crime
overall, females are 5 to 8 times more likely than males to be
victimized by an intimate.

* From 1992 to 1996 victimization by an intimate accounted for
about 21% of the violence experienced by females.  It accounted
for about 2% of the violent crime sustained by males.

* Overall violent victimization rates of both women and men
declined from 1993 to 1996.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  Among female victims of violence, strangers and  
and friends or acquaintances rather than intimates were
responsible for the highest rates of crime

                                Rate of violent victimization 
                                per 1,000 women
Victim-offender
relationship               1992       1993     1994     1995     1996

Intimates                   8.8        9.8      9.1      8.6      7.5
Other relatives             2.7        3.3      2.9      2.2      2.8
Friend/acquaintances       14.1       15.9     15.3     14.2     13.7
Stranger                   14.8       15.4     16.8     13.2     11.8

Note:  Intimates for the NCVS include current or former spouses,
boyfriends, and girlfriends.  Intimates for the SHR include spouses, 
ex-spouses, common-law spouses, same sex partners, boyfriends, and 
girlfriends.  Violent victimizations include rape, sexual assault, 
robbery, and aggravated and simple assault, as measured by the 
NCVS, and murder as reported by law enforcement agencies to the FBI.
Data are for victims age 12 or older.

Sources:  BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1992-96,
and FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1992-96.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

For female victims of violence, strangers and friends or
acquaintances rather than intimates were responsible for the
highest rates of crime. 

* Intimate violence accounts for about a fifth of all violence
against females.  The two categories of violence by friends and
acquaintances and violence by strangers are each over a third of
the victimizations. Violence by relatives other than intimates
are less than a 10th of all violence that women, age 12 or
older, experience.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  Though less likely than males to experience violent crime overall,
females are 5 to 8 times more likely than males to be victimized by an intimate

                    Rate of violent victimization 
                    per 1,000 persons
Victim                     1992       1993     1994     1995     1996

Total violent victimization 
Males                      64.2       65.2     63.6     56.4       53
Females                    41.2       45.7     45.5     39.2     37.1
Victimization by intimates
Males                       1.4        1.6      1.7      1.1      1.4
Females                     8.8        9.8      9.1      8.6      7.5


Note:  Intimates for the NCVS include current or former spouses,
boyfriends, and girlfriends.  Intimates for the SHR include spouses, 
ex-spouses, common-law spouses, same sex partners, boyfriends, and 
girlfriends.  Violent victimizations include rape, sexual assault, 
robbery, and aggravated and simple assault, as measured by the 
NCVS, and murder as reported by law enforcement agencies to the FBI.
Data are for victims age 12 or older.

Sources:  BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1992-96,
and FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1992-96.


Graphic.  Among male victims of violence, 
strangers and friends or acquaintances accounted 
for the highest rates of victimization

                    Rate of violent victimization 
Victim-offender     per 1,000 men
relationship               1992       1993     1994     1995     1996
Intimates                   1.4        1.6      1.7      1.1      1.4
Other relatives             1.1        1.6      2.2        2      1.6
Friend/acquaintances       20.2       20.3     18.5     17.3     16.7
Stranger                   39.6       38.8     38.2     33.8     30.8

Note:  Intimates for the NCVS include current or former spouses,
boyfriends, and girlfriends.  Intimates for the SHR include spouses, 
ex-spouses, common-law spouses, same sex partners, boyfriends, and 
girlfriends.  Violent victimizations include rape, sexual assault, 
robbery, and aggravated and simple assault, as measured by the 
NCVS, and murder as reported by law enforcement agencies to the FBI.
Data are for victims age 12 or older.

Sources:  BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1992-96,
and FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1992-96.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Analysis of trends in intimate murder, 1976-96 by James Alan
Fox, Ph.D., BJS Visiting Fellow

The number, percentage, and per capita rate of murders
involving spouses, ex-spouses, or other intimates have declined
over the past two decades.  

The number of intimates killed has dropped from nearly 3,000 per
year and 13.6% of all homicides in 1976 to fewer than 2,000 and
8.8% of all homicides in 1996.

In 1996 the number of intimate murders was 36% lower than in
1976.  The number of spouse murders, the largest component  of
intimate murder, fell 52%.

------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  The number of intimate murders
declined 36% from 1976 to 1996 as the
number of spouse murders went down 52%

         Number of intimate murder victims
Year     Spouse      Ex-spouse  Boy/girlfriend

    1976        2174        123        662
    1977        2017        110        603
    1978        1940        116        629
    1979        1940        146        683
    1980        1911        115        744
    1981        1946        136        768
    1982        1722        136        763
    1983        1676        128        770
    1984        1501         97        833
    1985        1581        111        811
    1986        1542        127        901
    1987        1489         96        841
    1988        1467        100        869
    1989        1326         78        913
    1990        1371        110        879
    1991        1297         82        918
    1992        1262         81        834
    1993        1232         94        964
    1994        1145         91        861
    1995        1030         60        776
    1996         987         73        749

Note:  Murder includes nonnegligent manslaughter.  
Data are for all ages of victims.

Source:  FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1976-96.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Female murder victims are substantially more likely than male
murder victims to have been killed by an intimate. 

For 1976-96, 18.9% of women victims were murdered by husbands,
1.4% by ex-husbands, and 9.4% by nonmarital partners (with an
undetermined victim-offender relationship in 27.7% of the
cases).  Over the same period, 3.7% of male victims were killed
by wives, 0.2% by ex-wives, and 2.0% by nonmarital partners
(with an undetermined victim-offender relationship in 34.3% of
the cases).  

------------------------------------------

Graphic.  Declines in the percentage 
of murders that are attributed to 
an intimate have been greater
among male victims

             Percent of homicide victims
             killed by an intimate
Year            Male      Female

    1976        11.2%      31.3%
    1977        11.0       29.3
    1978        10.5       30.3
    1979        10.8       30.3
    1980         9.8       30.2
    1981         9.5       29.7
    1982         9.1       28.5
    1983         9.7       29.4
    1984         8.9       28.2
    1985         8.6       29.5
    1986         8.4       29.7
    1987         8.3       28.1
    1988         7.8       29.2
    1989         7.7       28.0
    1990         6.9       28.8
    1991         6.3       28.7
    1992         6.2       28.8
    1993         6.1       28.6
    1994         6.2       28.5
    1995         5.4       27.8
    1996         5.4       29.0

Note:  Intimates include spouses, ex-spouses,
common-law spouses, same sex partners, boyfriends,
and girlfriends.  Murder includes nonnegligent
Data are for all ages of victims.

Source:  FBI, Supplementary Homicide 
Reports (SHR), 1976-96.

Graphic.  Intimates committed fewer murders in 1995
and 1996 than in any year since 1976


         Murders of an intimate
         Male         Female 
Year     victims      victims

    1976     1357     1600
    1977     1294     1437
    1978     1202     1482
    1979     1262     1506
    1980     1220     1550
    1981     1278     1572
    1982     1141     1480
    1983     1112     1462
    1984      989     1443
    1985      957     1546
    1986      985     1586
    1987      933     1494
    1988      855     1582
    1989      903     1414
    1990      858     1500
    1991      779     1518
    1992      722     1456
    1993      708     1581
    1994      692     1405
    1995      547     1320
    1996      516     1326

Note:  Intimates include spouses, 
ex-spouses, common-law spouses,
same sex partners, boyfriends,
and girlfriends. Murder includes 
nonnegligent manslaughter.
Data are for all ages of victims.

Source:  FBI, Supplementary
Homicide Reports (SHR), 1976-96.

------------------------------------------

Note:  Analysis in this section is based on murders and
nonnegligent manslaughters included in the Supplementary
Homicide Reports.  All percentages are based on the total number
of murders, regardless of whether the perpetrator was known or
unknown. Intimates include spouses, ex-spouses, common law
spouses, same sex partners, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

Since 1976 nearly 52,000 men and women have been murdered by
those with whom they shared an intimate relationship.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.

All victims of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, 1976-96: 
     446370 (100%)

Male victims
     340,687 (76.3%)
     Assailant was spouse
     12,686 (3.7%)
     Assailant was ex-spouse
     746 (0.2%)
     Assailant was girlfriend or other intimate
     6,879 (2.0%)
     Assailant was other relative, friend, acquaintance
     or stranger to victim
     203,164 (59.6%)
     Assailant was unknown to the police
     117,211 (34.4%)

Female victims
     105,175 (23.7%)
     Assailant was spouse
     19,892 (18.9%)
     Assailant was ex-spouse
     1,466 (1.4%)
     Assailant was boyfriend or other intimate
     9,902 (9.4%)
     Assailant was other relative, friend, acquaintance
     or stranger to victim
     44,713 (42.5%)
     Assailant was unknown to the police
     29,203 (27.8%)
-------------------------------------------------------

Intimate murders accounted for 30% of all female murders and 6%
of all male murders. Of the 32,580 spouses who were murder
victims between 1976 and 1996, about 6 in 10 were women.

Murders of ex-spouses accounted for about 1 out of every 200
murders that occurred nationwide during the two decades.  About
1 out of every 25 intimate murder victims were ex-spouses. 
About two-thirds of the ex-spouse murder victims were women.

A third of all intimate murders involved boyfriends and
girlfriends.  As with murders of spouses and ex-spouses, about
two-thirds of these victims were women.

The distribution of categories of murderers was similar for the
male and female victims of intimate murder between 1976 and
1996:   

During the two decades 20,311 men were intimate murder victims
--
62% killed by wives, 
4% by ex-wives, and 
34% by nonmarital partners such as girlfriends.

During the two decades 31,260 women were intimate murder victims
--
64% killed by husbands, 
5% by ex-husbands, and 
32% by nonmarital partners such as boyfriends.

Over the last two decades intimate murder rates dropped far more
rapidly among blacks than among whites.  

In 1976 the per capita rate of intimate murders among blacks was
nearly 11 times that among whites; in 1996 the black rate was
just over 4 times higher than the white rate.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  Over the last two decades intimate murder rates dropped far more rapid
among blacks than among whites, with the sharpest decreases among black male victims

              Rate of murder by an intimate per 100,000 persons age 20-44
              White                                    Black
Year          Total       Male       Female            Total    Male     Female

    1976        1.31       0.89       1.72             14.01    16.51    12.01
    1977        1.27       0.93       1.61             11.94    14.97     9.49
    1978        1.30       0.88       1.72             11.38    13.32     9.83
    1979        1.35       0.97       1.73              11.1    13.34     9.33
    1980        1.37       0.91       1.81             10.66    12.36     9.30
    1981        1.33       0.92       1.73              9.64    11.14     8.40
    1982        1.30       0.82       1.77              8.33     9.72     7.17
    1983        1.22       0.82       1.61              8.35     9.20     7.65
    1984        1.17       0.69       1.65              7.06     7.75     6.47
    1985        1.20       0.70       1.70              6.95     7.46     6.53
    1986        1.21       0.70       1.73              7.36     7.55     7.19
    1987        1.14       0.65       1.63              6.46     6.90     6.10
    1988        1.13       0.59       1.68              6.60     6.62     6.58
    1989        1.01       0.56       1.45              6.36     6.70     6.07
    1990        1.06       0.58       1.54              6.24     6.08     6.39
    1991        1.02       0.53       1.51              6.02     5.36     6.58
    1992        0.98       0.54       1.42              5.35     4.59     6.00
    1993        1.03       0.49       1.57              5.62     4.75     6.36
    1994        0.99       0.47       1.51              4.84     4.55     5.09
    1995        0.89       0.38       1.40              3.87     3.33     4.32
    1996        0.85       0.36       1.34              3.74     2.83     4.51

Source:  FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1976-96.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From 1976 to 1996 the number of murders of black spouses,
ex-spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends decreased from 14 per
100,000 blacks age 20-44 to just under 4 per 100,000.  The
murder rate decreased an average of 6% each year.

Intimate murder rates for whites during the same years decreased
by an annual average of 2%.  The rate declined from about 1.3
intimate murders per 100,000 whites age 20-44 to 0.85 murders
per 100,000.

Since 1976 the sharpest decrease in per capita rates of intimate
murder has been among black male victims.

In 1976 the per capita rate of intimate murder of black men was
nearly 19 times higher than that of white men.  The rate among
black females that year was 7 times higher than the rate among
white females.  In 1996 the black male rate was 8 times that of
white males, and the black female rate was 3 times higher than
the white female rate.

During the 20-year period after 1976, per capita rates of
intimate murder declined an annual average of 8% among black
males, 5% among black females, 4% among white males, and 1%
among white females.

The decline in the rate of intimate murder among black
husbands/ex-husbands has been greater than for any other
category of intimate murder victims.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  The decline in the rate of intimate murder per 100,000 
has been greater among black victims, especially black men 
killed by their spouses

            Rate of murder by an intimate per 100,000 persons in each population category
         White                                           Black
         Husband/               Wife/                    Husband/             Wife/
Year     ex-husband  Boyfriend  ex-wife    Girlfriend    ex-husband Boyfriend ex-wife  Girlfriend
1976        0.97       0.67       1.73     1.69             12.62    10.68    18.44    12.93
1977        1.01       0.72       1.62     1.53             10.26     7.81    16.92    11.67
1978        0.98       0.61       1.74     1.63             11.19     7.43    14.99    10.66
1979        1.11       0.62       1.73     1.73              9.74     8.64     15.9     9.62
1980        0.99       0.72       0.17     2.32             10.04     8.03    14.35     9.61
1981        1.03       0.67       1.76     1.65              8.47     8.29    12.89     8.89
1982        0.84       0.76       1.76     1.81              7.07     7.32     10.8     8.34
1983        0.91       0.63       1.54     1.84              8.23     6.83    10.71     7.47
1984        0.65       0.79       1.56     1.97              5.90     7.27     8.37     7.11
1985        0.73       0.64        1.6     2.05              6.31     6.81     7.73     7.18
1986        0.70       0.68       1.53     2.42              6.74     7.80     7.74     7.35
1987        0.65       0.64       1.48     2.15              6.10     6.09     6.86     6.95
1988        0.55       0.68       1.51     2.21              6.23     7.04     6.69     6.54
1989        0.53       0.62       1.21     2.25              5.58     6.71     6.73     6.67
1990        0.54       0.66       1.39     2.03              5.83     7.07     5.77      6.4
1991        0.45       0.69       1.35     2.01              6.04     7.16     5.08     5.63
1992        0.56       0.50       1.29     1.84              6.08     5.90     4.53     4.64
1993        0.43       0.60       1.29     2.46              6.05     6.70     4.53     4.94
1994        0.46       0.49       1.39     1.88              4.13     6.08     4.75     4.37
1995        0.39       0.39       1.12     2.27              3.72     4.97     2.93     3.69
1996        0.37       0.37       1.10     1.90              3.63     5.19     2.28     3.21

Source:  FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1976-96.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From 1976 to 1996 the per capita murder rate of black husbands
and former husbands declined an average of 10% a year.

Between 1976 and 1989 more black men were killed by their wives
than black women were killed by their husbands. After 1990 the
order was reversed, and the murder rate among black wives and
ex-wives was higher than that among black husbands and
ex-husbands.

Only one category of intimate murder victims, white girlfriends,
has increased over the past two decades. 

In 1976 there were 1.69 murders of white women (shown as
girlfriends) killed by their boyfriends or other nonmarital
intimates per 100,000 unmarried white women age 20-44 in the
U.S. resident population.  In 1996 the intimate murder rate for
white girlfriends was 1.97 per 100,000.

The average annual percentage changes in the rates of intimate
murder between 1976 and 1996, classified by victim-offender
relationship, were as follows:

                              Victims
                        White        Black
Husbands/
   ex-husbands-           -5%         -10%

Boyfriends                -3           -7   
Wives/ex-wives            -2           -6   
Girlfriends               +1           -3   

The number of intimate murders has declined or remained fairly
stable for all sex/race relationship groups except for white
females murdered by nonmarital partners.  The incidence of
intimate murder of white women by their boyfriend or other
nonmarital intimate has increased. 

Over 1976-96 the number of never-married white women ages 20-44
nearly doubled.  Over the same period the number of intimate
murders of victims of this age, race, sex, and marital
background slightly more than doubled, resulting in a small
increase in the per capita rate of murder.  That is, while the
number of such victims increased, unlike the case for other
victim groups, the rate of murder has not changed greatly.


     Murders of            Population of
     white females         never married  
     (ages 20-44) by       or widowed      Rate of murder
     boyfriends or other   white women,    per 100,000 
Year nonmarital intimates  ages 20-44      white women

1976           90          5,329,000          1.7
1977           89          5,821,000          1.5
1978          102          6,239,000          1.6
1979          116          6,712,000          1.7
1980          163          7,014,000          2.3
1981          124          7,507,000          1.7
1982          145          7,999,000          1.8
1983          155          8,415,000          1.8
1984          173          8,782,000          2.0
1985          182          8,862,000          2.1
1986          219          9,056,000          2.4
1987          200          9,294,000          2.2
1988          209          9,442,000          2.2
1989          216          9,610,000          2.2
1990          198          9,742,000          2.0
1991          202         10,051,000          2.0
1992          187         10,174,000          1.8
1993          250         10,161,000          2.5
1994          195         10,361,000          1.9
1995          230         10,133,000          2.3
1996          199         10,133,000          2.0

Among murder victims for every age group, females are much more
likely than males to have been murdered by an intimate.
  
----------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  Females at every age are much more likely
than males to be murdered by an intimate

                  Percent of murder victims 
                  killed by intimates
Age of victim       Male      Female

17 or younger        0.8%       5.8%
18-24                2.5       28.5
25-29                5.5       36.3
30-34                7.6       41.3
35-39                9.3       44.3
40-44               10.6       41.4
45-49               11.7       40.2
50-59               10.8       31.8
60 or older          6.9       19.3

Note:  Intimates include spouses, ex-spouses, common-law spouses,
same sex partners, boyfriends, and girlfriends.
Murder includes nonnegligent manslaughter.  

Source:  FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1976-96.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

For victims from age 30 to 49, intimates had committed over 4 in
every 10 murders of women.  About 1 in 10 murders of men of
similar age were by intimates. 

The difference between men and women was the largest in the
18-to-24 age bracket:  Intimate offenders were responsible for
the deaths of 2.5% of the male murder victims but 28.5% of the
female victims.

The female-to-male gender ratio has been climbing for both white
and black victims of intimate murder.  When intimate murder
occurs, increasingly it is the female rather than the male who
is the victim.

----------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  For both whites and blacks, when intimate
murder occurs, increasingly the woman,
not the man, is the victim

             Number of women who died for each
Year         male victim of intimate murder
             White victims    Black victims
1976              1.72        0.84
1977              1.73        0.71
1978              1.77        0.83
1979              1.65        0.83
1980              1.85        0.82
1981              1.72        0.84
1982              1.85        0.81
1983              1.79        0.87
1984              2.12        0.88
1985              2.36        0.95
1986              2.23        1.01
1987              2.28        0.98
1988              2.68        1.15
1989              2.38        0.93
1990              2.42        1.11
1991              2.59        1.26
1992              2.64        1.38
1993              2.99        1.50
1994              2.83        1.29
1995              3.41        1.37
1996              3.32        1.70

Note:  Intimates include spouses, ex-spouses, 
common-law spouses, same sex partners, boyfriends,
and girlfriends.  Murder includes nonnegligent
manslaughter.  Data are for all ages of victims.

Source: FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), 1976-96

--------------------------------------------------

Because rates of intimate murder have declined faster among male
than female victims, the ratio of female-to-male victims of
intimate murder has risen among both whites and blacks.  Prior
to the mid-1980's, fewer than two white females were murdered by
intimate partners for every white male; by the mid-1990's, this
ratio surpassed three white females for every white male.  

Among blacks the gender ratio was below 1.0 prior to the
mid-1980's, as fewer black females than black males were
murdered by intimate partners;  by the mid-1990's, the ratio
reached 1.5 black female victims for every black male.

Race-specific trends in the gender ratio have remained parallel
over the past two decades, both having doubled over this period.

Among the nearly 52,000 men and women murdered by an intimate
between 1976 and 1996, 65% were killed with a firearm.  However,
firearms accounted for a smaller share of intimate murders in
1996, about 61%, than they did in 1976 (71%).

----------------------------------
Graphic.  In 1976 guns were used 
in about 71% of intimate murders; 
in 1996, in about 61%

          Murders of an intimate
          With      Without
Year      guns      guns
1976      2113        846
1977      1916        814
1978      1863        822
1979      2008        761
1980      1939        831
1981      1929        921
1982      1738        883
1983      1663        911
1984      1578        853
1985      1642        861
1986      1673        897
1987      1574        852
1988      1515        921
1989      1441        876
1990      1477        883
1991      1397        900
1992      1378        799
1993      1498        792
1994      1342        755
1995      1163        703
1996      1168        640

Note:  Intimates include spouses, 
ex-spouses, common-law spouses, 
same sex partners, boyfriends, 
and girlfriends.  Data are for 
all ages of victims.

Source:  FBI, Supplementary 
Homicide Reports (SHR), 1976-96.

--------------------------------

Over the two decades more than 33,500 persons were murdered by a
current or former spouse or by a current boyfriend, girlfriend,
or other intimate using a firearm.  In 1996 just over 1,100
people were murdered by intimates wielding a firearm, a thousand
fewer than in 1976.

The decrease in the number of intimate murders between 1976 and
1996 is primarily attributable to the substantial drop in the
number of such murders committed with a firearm--an average
decline of 3% annually.  The number of intimate murders
committed by means other than a firearm, by contrast, has
remained nearly constant over the period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Characteristics of victims and of incidents of intimate violence
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rates of nonlethal intimate violence are highest among black
women, women age 16 to 24, women in households in the lowest
incomes categories, and women residing in urban areas. 

About 3 out of 4 women experiencing violence at the hands of an
intimate report the offense occurred at or near their own home.
Half report that it occurred between 6 pm and midnight.

About a third of female victims of intimate violence experienced
such violence more than once during the 6 months preceding their
interview.  

Source:  National Crime Victimization Survey, 1992-96
National Incident-Based Reporting System, 1995

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Characteristics of victims of violence by intimates
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Among female victims of nonlethal intimate violence, blacks
experienced higher rates than whites.  White and black males
experienced the same rates of intimate violence.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic. Among female victims of intimate violence, 
blacks experienced higher rates than whites in 1994, 1995, and 1996

                           Average annual rate of 
                           nonlethal violent victimization
                           by an intimate per 1,000
Victim characteristic         Male         Female

White                          1.4         8.2
Black                          2.1        11.7
Other/a                        0.5         5.6

Hispanic/b                     1.3         7.2
Non-Hispanic                   1.4         8.7

Note:  Nonlethal intimate violence includes rape, sexual assault,
robbery, and aggravated and simple assault.  Because it is based
on interviews with victims, the NCVS does not include murder.
Intimates include current and former spouses, boyfriends,  
and girlfriends.  

a/Denotes Asians, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific 
Islanders, Alaska Natives, and American Indians.  
b/Hispanic or Latino persons could be of any race.

Source:  BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1992-96.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

* On average each year between 1992 and 1996 about 12 per 1,000
black women experienced violence by an intimate, compared to
about 8 per 1,000 white women.

* For men the rate of victimization by an intimate was about a
fifth of the rate for women.

The highest rates of intimate violence affected women ages 16 to
24.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.   The highest rates of intimate 
violence affect women ages 16 to 24

                      Average annual rate of nonlethal
Age of                violent victimization 
female victim         by an intimate per 1,000 females

12-15                          2.6
16-19                         20.1
20-24                         20.7
25-34                         16.5
35-49                          7.2
50-64                          1.3
65 or older                    0.2

Note:   Nonlethal intimate violence includes rape, 
sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault. 
Because it is based on interviews with victims, the NCVS 
does not include murder.  Intimates include current 
and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends. 

Source:  BJS, National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS), 1992-96.

----------------------------------------------------------------

* Women age 16 to 19 and women age 20 to 24 had nearly identical
rates of intimate victimization -- about 1 violent victimization 
for every 50 women.

* Annual rates of intimate violence by age of female victims
showed little change from 1992 to 1996.

Women in low-income households experienced a higher rate of
nonlethal violence by an intimate than did women in households
with larger incomes.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.   Women in low-income households experience a higher 
rate of nonlethal violence from an intimate than do women 
in households with larger incomes

                       Average annual rate of nonlethal
                      intimate violence per 1,000 persons
Household income              Male       Female

Less than $7,500               2.7        21.3
$7,500-$14,999                 1.4        12.3
$15,000-$24,999                1.8        10.4
$25,000-$34,999                1.8         7.2
$35,000-$49,999                1.1         5.8
$50,000-$74,999                1.5         4.4
$75,000 or more                0.5         2.7

Note:   Nonlethal intimate violence includes rape, 
sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault. 
Because it is based on interviews with victims, the NCVS 
does not include murder.  Intimates include current 
and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends. 

Source:  BJS, National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS), 1992-96.
---------------------------------------------------------------

* The rate of intimate violence against women generally decreased
as household income levels increased.

Urban women experienced a higher rate of nonlethal violence from
an intimate than suburban and rural women.
----------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.  Urban women experience a higher rate of nonlethal
violence by an intimate than suburban and rural women

                Average annual rate of nonlethal violence 
                by an intimate per 1,000 persons
                    Male       Female
Urban                1.5        10.0
Suburban             1.4         7.9
Rural                1.3         8.0

Note:  Nonlethal intimate violence includes rape,
sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault.
Because it is based on interviews with victims, the NCVS 
Intimates include current and former spouses, boyfriends, 
and girlfriends.  "Urban" denotes central cities in
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA's).  "Suburban" 
denotes the population outside the central cities in MSA's.
Rural" denotes nonmetropolitan areas.

Source:  BJS, National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS), 1992-96.
---------------------------------------------------------------

* The rates of intimate violence experienced by urban, suburban,
and rural men had little variation.

----------------------------------------------------------------
About 7 in 10 female victims of intimate violence reported that
they were physically attacked.  

For the remainder, the attack was attempted or threatened --
nearly a third of these victims saying that the offender
threatened to kill them.

Victim hit, knocked down, or attacked     70%
Attempted or threatened attack*           29

   Offender --
        Threatened to kill                   31%        
        Threatened to rape                    1%   
        Threatened other attack              53%
        Threatened with weapon               17% 
        Threw object at victim                3%   
        Followed/surrounded victim            5%
        Tried to hit, slap, or knock
              down victim                    13%  

*Victims may report more than one type of threat.


--------------------------------------------------------------------
Characteristics of violent victimizations by intimates
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Three-quarters of the incidents of nonlethal intimate violence
against women occur at or near the victim's home.
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Most intimate violence occurs in or near the victim's home

                        Percent of nonlethal violence
                        by intimates
                               Male       Female

At or near own home             63.0%       72.2%
At or near other's home         18.3        12.2
Commercial place                 3.4         2.8
At school                        1.1         1.2
Open area of parking lot        12.2         9.1
Other                            2.0         2.5

Note:  Nonlethal intimate violence includes rape, sexual assault,
robbery, and aggravated and simple assault.  Because it is based
on interviews with victims, the NCVS does not include murder.
Intimates include current and former spouses,
boyfriends, and girlfriends.

Source:  BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1992-96.
------------------------------------------------------------------

* The patterns are similar for men and women.

For both male and female victims, nonlethal intimate violence is
most likely to occur between 6 pm and midnight.

                   Percent of incidents
                   of intimate violence against--
                   Female         Male
                   victims        victims

6 am - noon          11%            8%
Noon - 6 pm          24            30
6 pm - midnight      46            50
Midnight - 6 am      16            11
Don't know            4             2*

Note: Nonlethal violent victimizations include 
rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated
and simple assault.  Intimates include current
and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.
*Fewer than 10 sample cases, 1992-96.

Nearly a third of female victims of nonlethal intimate violence
were victimized at least twice during the previous 6 months.

Percent of female victims of intimate violence
having the following number of occurrences of
intimate violence during the 6 months previous
to their NCVS interview:
                   1 occurrence 69%
                   2            14
                   3-5           6
                   6 or more    12

A larger percentage of female than male victims of nonlethal
intimate violence live in households with children under age 12.

Women: Slightly more than half of the female victims live in
households with children under age 12.  There is no information
on whether the children witnessed any of the violence against
these women.

Men:  About 22% of the male victims of intimate violence live in
households with young children.

----------------------------------------------------------------
About 4 in 10 violent offenders in State prisons for crimes
against intimates were residing with their children (natural,
adopted, or step-children) under age 18 prior to entering prison.

* The prisoners who were convicted of intimate violence and who
had children under age 18 had an average of 2.2 young children.

                                 Percent of State prisoners
                                 convicted of crimes
                                 against intimates
No children under age 18                36%

Children under age 18                   64

  Living with offender
     before prison                        40%
  Not living with offender                25  
---------------------------------------------


Incident-based data, from jurisdictions which maintained such
records of crime in 1995, provide details on intimate violence
not available from most law enforcement agencies --

-- 3 in 4 intimate violence victims are between   
     ages 20 and 39 
-- 8 in 10 incidents occur in the home 
-- 4 in 10 incidents occur on weekends
-- 1 in 4 incidents involved an offender who
     had been drinking
-- 3 in 10 incidents occur between
     9 pm and midnight.

------------------------------------------
Almost 30% of intimate violence
occurs from 9 in the evening till midnight

               Percent of
               intimate violence 
Time           reported to the police

Midnight          7.1%
1                 5.5
2                 4.6
3                 3.3
4                 2.0
5                 1.5
6                 1.4
7                 1.7
8                 2.1
9                 2.2
10                2.6
11                2.9
Noon              3.1
1                 3.1
2                 3.2
3                 3.7
4                 4.3
5                 4.9
6                 5.8
7                 6.2
8                 6.7
9                 7.2
10                7.7
11                7.4

Note:  Intimates for NIBRS include spouses,
ex-spouses, common-law spouses, same sex
partners, boyfriends, and girlfriends.  
Violent crimes include murder, rape, sexual
assault, kidnaping, robbery, assault, and 
other violence.

Source:  FBI, National Incident-Based 
Reporting System (NIBRS), 1995.

-------------------------------------------

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) represents
the next generation of crime data from law enforcement agencies.
It is designed to replace the nearly 70-year-old summary
Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the FBI that compiles
aggregate data on eight crimes. NIBRS utilizes information from
individual crime reports recorded by police officers at the time
of the incident.  Rather than relying on a group of eight Index
offenses to convey the overall crime situation, NIBRS collects
information on 57 types of crimes.  

In addition, NIBRS provides the opportunity to analyze a wide
array of contingencies of crime: who the victim was, the
relationship of the victim to the offender, age of both victim
and offender, where and when the incident occurred, and the
consequences of the crime for the victim such as injuries and
property loss.  

A significant benefit of NIBRS is that it makes possible the
ability to evaluate and monitor the incidence and prevalence of
domestic violence, both family violence and intimate violence,
nationally and at the jurisdiction level. 

                Percent of incidents of intimate violence
                All        Aggra-          
                intimate   vated       Simple     Intimi-
                assaults*  assault    assault     dation

Victim-offender 
relationship
  Spouse           53.1%      52.5%      54.8%     41.0%
  Ex-spouse         4.9        3.3        3.8      16.4

  Other intimate   42.0       44.2       41.4      42.6

Age of victim
  Under 20          8.8%       7.1%       9.1%      9.1%
  20-29            40.2       37.0       41.3      38.2
  30-39            35.7       37.0       35.5      35.5
  40 or older      15.2       18.9       14.2      17.2

Circumstances
Argument           81.0%      81.2%      84.7%     76.4%
  Lovers' quarrel   14.4       14.3       11.0      13.9
  Other             4.6        4.5        4.3       9.7

Location
  Home              80.0%     78.2%      81.0%     75.6%
  Bar/club           1.2       1.1        1.3        .7
  Hotel              1.2       1.2        1.2        .7
  Road/garage        8.1      10.6        7.5       7.5
  Other              9.5       8.9        9.0      15.3

Day of the week
  Sunday            18.6%     18.9%      19.0%     14.8%
  Monday            12.1      11.8       12.0      13.4
  Tuesday           12.4      12.1       12.2      15.0
  Wednesday         12.0      11.7       11.9      14.0
  Thursday          12.2      12.0       12.0      13.6
  Friday            13.9      14.0       13.7      14.9
  Saturday          18.8      19.4       19.2      14.3

Alcohol use
  Evidence of 
  offender 
  drinking          24.9%     28.0%      25.8%     12.7%

Note: These data were obtained from law enforcement 
agencies in 9 States.  Coverage for these data is estimated 
to be about 2% of murders, 4% of reported aggravated assaults, 
and an unknown percentage of simple assaults and 
intimidation offenses.

*All intimate assaults includes murder but excludes 
violent sex crimes.


-------------------------------------------------------------
Responses to nonlethal intimate violence
-------------------------------------------------------------

About 3 out of 4 female victims of intimate violence defended
themselves during the incident.

About half the female victims reported the incident to law
enforcement authorities -- black female victims being more
likely than others to call the police.  Most victims reported
that the police responded to their call for assistance and for a
majority of those, within 10 minutes of the call.  In about 20%
of these cases, the victim reported that the offender was
immediately arrested.  

About 160,800 female victims of violence are estimated to
receive services from a victim service agency each year.

About half of all female victims of intimate violence report an
injury of some type, and about 20% of these seek medical
assistance.  In 1994 hospitals recorded nearly a quarter million
hospital visits resulting from intimate violence.  Female
victims of intimate violence suffer medical expenses and other
costs of crime which total about $150 million annually.

Sources: National Crime Victimization Survey, 1992-96
Study of Injured Victims of Violence, 1994

-------------------------------------------------------------
Responses to nonlethal intimate violence
-------------------------------------------------------------

Three-fourths of female victims of nonlethal intimate violence
actively defended themselves against the offender.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.

About three-fourths of female victims of intimate violence actively
defended themselves during the incident.

43% tried to escape from the offender, called the police,
    or other help, or used other nonconfrontational means
    of self-defense
34% confronted the offender by struggling, shouting
    chasing, or using other means without a weapon (30%)
    or with a weapon (4%)
23% offered no active resistance to the violence
  

About half the women victimized by an intimate reported the
violence to law enforcement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.  About half the women who are victimized
by an intimate report the violence to law enforcement

          Percent of  female victims 
          of intimate violence who 
Year      reported to the police

1993             48%
1994             50
1995             53
1996             56

Note:  Intimates include current or former spouses,
boyfriends, and girlfriends.  Nonlethal violent 
victimizations include rape, sexual assault, robbery,
and aggravated and simple assault.  

Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS), 1993-96.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* For female victims of intimate violence, the likelihood of
reporting an incident to the police did not change significantly
between 1993 and 1996.

* 1 in 3 of the female victims of intimate violence who did not
report their crime to the police (and 1 in 6 of all female
victims of intimate violence) said that they had considered the
victimization a "private or personal matter."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.

Violent crime against                 Violent crime against
an intimate reported                  an intimate not reported
to the police                         to the police
52.1%                                 47.8%

                                      Most important reasons
                                      given for not reporting
                                    
                                      Private or personal matter        15.4%
                                      Afraid of offender retaliation     7.3
                                      Police would do nothing            4.4
                                      Incident was not important enough  3.5
                                      No one reason most important       1.7
                                      Reported to another official       1.1
                                      Don't know                          .7*
                                      Other                             13.6

                                      *Fewer than 10 sample cases.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            

Among women victimized by a violent intimate, about two-thirds
of the black women but about half of the white women report the
crime to the police. 

          Percent of female
          victims of intimate 
          violence

White        49%
Black        68
Other        44

When notified of the incident, the police responded to about 90%
of the calls for assistance from intimate violence victims,
according to the victims themselves.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.

Female victims of intimate violence, 1992-96
Violent crime                              Violent crime
against an intimate                        against an intimate 
reported to the police                     not reported to the police
51%                                        49%

Police responded
or the victim           Police did not
went to the police      respond
88%                     11%

Actions taken by the police

  Took an official report               70%
  Questioned witness/suspect            29
  Arrested the offender                 20
  Searched for/collected evidence        6 
  Promised surveillance/ investigation   4

Ultimately, about 1 in 3 offenders identified
by the victim were arrested or charged for
the victimization between the time of the incident
and the interview with the victim.   
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Among female victims of intimate violence reporting that the
police were called for assistance, nearly 6 in 10 said the
police arrived within 10 minutes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.  Nearly 6 in 10 women who called the police when victimized
said that the police arrived within 10 minutes

Police                  Percent of female victims
arrived                 of intimate violence who 
within--                reported to the police

5 minutes                       25.2%
10 minutes                      32.2
1 hour                          34.6
More than 1 hour                 7.9

Note:  Intimates include current or former spouses, boyfriends,
and girlfriends.  Nonlethal violent victimizations include rape,
sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault.  

Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1992-96.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Between 1992 and 1996 an estimated 800,000 female victims of
intimate violence received assistance from a victim service
agency shortly after the crime.

* An annual average of 160,800 women victimized by an intimate
got help from victim service agencies -- about half of which
were governmental and half private.  This average translates to
about 1 in 6 of all female victims of intimate violence.

The estimate of the number of women receiving assistance from a
victim service agency is probably too low.  The NCVS obtains
information only on a brief period following the incident. 

* During or after an intimate victimization an annual average of
nearly 500,300 female victims reported the victimization to a
law enforcement agency.

More than half of female victims of intimate violence reported
the incident to the police or had contact with a victim 
assistance agency shortly after the crime.

-------------------------------------------
Graphic.

Annual average number of female 
victims of intimate violence
960,400

   Female victims who reported
   the victimization to--
   
   A victim service agency   51,000
   (governmental or private)

   The police or another    390,000
   law enforcement agency

   Both a victim service    109,800
   agency and the police   

   Neither a victim service 411,000
   agency nor the police

------------------------------------------------------------
Injuries and losses reported by victims of intimate violence
------------------------------------------------------------

About half of the female victims of violence by an intimate were
injured.
-------------------------------------------------
Graphic.

Female victims of intimate violence, 1992-96
Injured                               Not injured
51%                                   49%

Rape or sexual assault 6%
Gun, knife, or stab wound 0.5%
Other serious injury* 4%
Other injury* 41%

*Categories of injuries: Serious injuries
include broken bones, internal injuries,
being knocked unconscious, and any injuries
requiring 2 or more days in a hospital.  
Other injuries include bruises, black eyes,
cuts, swelling, chipped teeth, and unspecified
injuries requiring less than 2 days' 
hospitalization.  
-----------------------------------------------

Among female victims of intimates, 1 in 10 sought treatment at a
medical care facility for physical injury; among those injured 1
in 5 sought treatment.

------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.

Female victims of intimate violence, 1992-96
Injured                               No reported
51%                                   physical injury
                                      49%

Not treated 32%
Cared for at the
scene or at home 9%

Treated at doctor's
office or clinic 3%

Treated at an
emergency room 7%

Hospitalized 1%*

Note: Nonlethal violent victimizations include rape, sexual assault, 
robbery, and aggravated and simple assault.  Intimates include current
 and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

*Fewer than 10 sample cases
in the source data from the NCVS.

------------------------------------------------------

Based on the reports of female victims of nonlethal intimate
violence, medical expenses from the physical trauma, broken or
stolen property, and lost pay cost these victims nearly $150
million a year.

                    Female victims of intimate violence, 1992-96

                     Percent of       Average 
                     victims exper-   expense or         Estimated
Type of              iencing an ex-   loss per victim    total loss
expense or loss      pense or loss    reporting a loss   annually


Medical expenses       6.0%             $1,075          $61,800,000
Cash loss              1.1                 455            4,900,000
Property
   Loss                4.3                 734           30,300,000
   Repair              5.8                 189           10,500,000
   Replacement         5.3                 478           24,300,000

Lost pay from--
  Injury                4.3                261           10,800,000
  Other causes          2.8                255            6,900,000

* Each year, on average, an estimated 57,500 female victims of
intimate violence incurred over $61 million in medical expenses.
Medical expenses represented nearly 40% of all costs associated
with incidents of intimate violence against a woman.

Medical expenses, however, may be substantially underestimated
in the NCVS, based on findings from the National Electronic
Injury Surveillance System.

* On average, each year, female victims of intimate violence
spent nearly $35 million to replace or repair property that was
stolen or broken during the violent incident.  

* Property losses accounted for about 44% of all costs women
face as a consequence of violence by an intimate.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Study of Injured Victims of Violence:  Intimate violence 
and its health consequences
--------------------------------------------------------------

The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, a data
collection program in a national sample of hospital emergency
departments, provides another source of information on intimate
violence.

In 1994 about 1.4 million people, injured as a result of
intentional violence, were examined in the emergency
departments.  About a quarter of all these intentional injuries
had resulted from violence by an intimate.  Intimates include
current or former spouses and current boyfriends and girlfriends.

* About half of all persons treated for intimate violence were
treated for bruises or similar injuries.  About a fourth were
treated for cuts, stab wounds or internal injuries.

* About half of the persons treated for intimate violence
related injuries had head or facial injuries.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.  Women injured by intimates accounted 
for about 1 in 5 visits to hospital emergency departments 
for injuries arising from intentional violence

              Number of injury cases treated in
              hospital emergency departments

                Intimate  Other types  Unrecorded
                violence  of violence  relationship
Total             243316      700777     383633
Males              38958      487814     287233
Females           204358      212963      96400

Note:  Intimates for SIVV include current 
and former spouses and current
boyfriends and girlfriends.  

Source: BJS, Study of Injured Victims of 
Violence (SIVV), 1994.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Females accounted for 39% of the hospital emergency department
visits for violence-related injuries in 1994 but 84% of the
persons treated for injuries inflicted by intimates.

* Among those treated for violence-related injuries and with a
known relationship to the offender, about 50% of the women and
8% of the men had been injured by an intimate.

                    Patients treated in hospital 
                    emergency departments
                 Victims of           Victims of violence
                 intimate violence    by nonintimate 
Victim's age
  13-19                    9.7%             29.7%
  20-29                   42.2              32.4
  30-45                   41.6              29.2
  46 or older              6.5               8.7

Weapons used 
to injure victim
  No weapon used          73.5%             61.9%
  Weapon used             21.0              32.0
  Firearm                  1.1               3.5
  Knife/sharp object       7.4               6.6
  Bat, or object 
  used to hit              9.6              15.9
  Other                    2.9               6.0
  Not recorded             5.6               6.1

Diagnosis of injury 
  Bruise                  48.6%             32.7%
  Cut/stab wound/
  internal injury         24.1              31.3
  Muscular/
  skeletal injury         16.9              20.6
  Concussion/
  head injury               .9               1.4
  Rape/sexual
   assault                 2.2               4.1
  Gunshot wound            1.0               3.4
  All other                6.4               6.3

Part of body injured
  Head/face               51.1%             57.4%
  Upper trunk              9.6               9.9
  Lower trunk              4.8               3.5
  Hands/arms              18.1              14.5
  Feet/legs                4.5               5.1
  Other                    2.1               3.5
  25%-50% of body          6.4               3.6
  All parts of 
  the body                 2.5               2.2
  Not recorded              .9                .3

    Number              243,000           701,000

Note: The table excludes 384,000 patients who 
either could not or did not report the victim-offender 
relationship.  Intimates include spouses, ex-spouses, 
boyfriends, and girlfriends.

------------------------------------------------------------
Profile of convicted intimate offenders
------------------------------------------------------------


About 24% of convicted violent offenders in local jails and 7%
of violent offenders in State prisons nationwide committed their
crime against an intimate.  

Nearly 40% of convicted violent offenders in local jails who
committed their crime against an intimate had a criminal justice
status at the time of the offense:  on probation or parole or
under a restraining order.  


More than half of prison and jail inmates with an intimate
victim had been drinking or using drugs when they committed the
violent crime.  Among those drinking, half had been drinking for
more than 6 hours before the violence and had consumed about 10
drinks.  

Nearly 30% of State prisoners with intimate victims were armed
with a firearm at the time of the incident.  

Sentences received by intimate offenders did not differ
substantially from other offenders for the same crimes.  

Sources: Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities, 1991
Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, 1995

-------------------------------------------------------------
Profile of convicted intimate offenders
-------------------------------------------------------------

About 1 in 4 convicted violent offenders in local jails said
they had committed their offense against an intimate.   

* For 3 in 4 jailed violent offenders whose victim was a current
or former spouse, girlfriend, or boyfriend, the conviction
offense was assault.  Other crimes included murder,
manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, kidnaping, robbery, and
other violent offenses. 

* Violent offenders with an intimate victim were about twice as
likely as those who had committed their crime against a stranger
to have been convicted of assault. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.

Convicted violent offenders in local jails 100%

Intimate violence 23.6%

  Homicide 4.7%
  Rape/sexual assault 12.3%
  Robbery 2.4%
  Assault 72.3%

Other relatives violence 8.6%
  
  Homicide 2.0%
  Rape/sexual assault 52.4%
  Robbery 3.7%
  Assault 34.4%

Friend/acquaintance violence 25.9%

  Homicide 8.6%
  Rape/sexual assault 23.5%
  Robbery 14.1%
  Assault 46.4%

Stranger violence 41.9%

  Homicide 7.5%
  Rape/sexual assault 3.6%
  Robbery 46.8%
  Assault 36.6%

Note:  Intimate violence includes offenses
committed against current and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

About half of all convicted inmates in local jails serving time
for violence against an  intimate had a history of having been
placed under a restraining or protection order.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.

Convicted intimate violent offenders in local jails 100%

Previously placed under                              No history of restraining
a restraining or protection order                    or protection orders
50.9%                                                49.1%

Who was the victim         Who took out the          Who was the victim
of the intimate violence?  restraining or            of the intimate violence? 
Spouse 39.3%               protection order?         Spouse 33.9%
Boyfriend,                 Spouse 39.9%              Boyfriend,
girlfriend,                Boyfriend, girlfriend,    girlfriend,
or ex-spouse 60.7%         or ex-spouse 42.4%        or ex-spouse 66.1%
                           Other relatives or
                           acquaintances 17.7%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nearly 4 in 10 offenders sentenced to jail for violence against
a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend had a
criminal justice status or a restraining order against them when
they committed their crime.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic

Percent of jail inmates sentenced to jail
for violence against an intimate, by type
of criminal justice status they were under
when they committed their offense:

No criminal justice status   62.5%
Probation                    19.7
Restraining order             9.2
Parole                        4.3
Other status like electronic
monitoring, alcohol/drug
diversion, weekend sentence   4.3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

* Among those who were in jail for violence against an intimate
and who had been on probation or parole when they committed their crime, 
about 1 in 4 also had a restraining order against them.

An estimated three-fourths of local jail inmates convicted of
intimate violence had prior convictions, and most of these had a
history  of convictions for violence. 

                                Inmates convicted 
                               of violence against 
                                an intimate
Criminal history    State prison   Local jail

   Total              100%            100%
First conviction       33.4            21.8
Recidivist --
Prior violence         33.2            58.0
No prior violence      33.4            20.2


* Among State prisoners serving time for intimate violence,
about 2 out of 3 had a prior conviction history.

* Chronic violent offenders accounted for 3 in 10 of State
prisoners serving time for violence against an intimate and
nearly 6 in 10 local jail inmates convicted of intimate
violence.

More than half of both prison and jail inmates convicted of a
violent crime against an intimate were drinking or using drugs
at the time of the offense.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Graphic.

Percent of prisoners who committed a violent
crime against an intimate, by whether they
were using illegal drugs or drinking alcoholic
beverages at the time of the offense

State prisoners

No drinking or drugs     44.6%
Drinking only            31.1
Using drugs only          3.9
Drinking and drugs       20.4

Jail inmates

No drinking or drugs     43.7%
Drinking only            35.6
Using drugs only          7.7
Drinking and drugs       13.0

---------------------------------------------------------------  

* Less than a quarter of the State prisoners or jail inmates
were using drugs, alone or in combination with alcohol.


Among prisoners who had been drinking before they committed a
crime against an intimate, about half of State prison inmates
and a third of convicted jail inmates had been drinking for 6 or
more hours.

Hours spent 
drinking before 
the offender 
committed the 
crime against    State      Convicted
an intimate      prisoners  jail inmates

1 hour             9.4%        19.7%
2                 14.4         21.2
3                 11.1          4.5
4                  7.3         11.6
5                  8.9          9.1
6-12              20.9         24.5
More than 
12 hours          28.1          9.4

Jail inmates who committed a violent crime against an intimate
and who reported that they had been drinking at the time had
consumed an average (median) of about 5 ounces of ethanol -- 
equivalent to about 10 beers or mixed drinks.

Of jail inmates who were convicted of a violent crime against an
intimate and who were drinking before the offense --

* about 4 in 10 reported consuming the equivalent of about one
six-pack of beer before their crime.

* about 1 in 5 reported drinking the equivalent of two dozen or
more beers before their crime.

Number of    Cumulative percentage    Approximate  
ounces of    of jail inmates who      number of
ethanol      were drinking when       drinks to equal
reported to  they committed a         the amount
have been    violent crime against    of ethanol
consumed     an intimate              consumed

1 oz. or less       25.5%                   2 drinks 
2 ozs. or less      35.6                    4
3 ozs. or less      42.3                    6
4 ozs. or less      44.4                    8
5 ozs. or less      52.9                   10
6 ozs. or less      56.6                   12
7 ozs. or less      69.2                   14
11 ozs. or less     79.6                   22
15 ozs. or less    100                     30


About half of prison and jail inmates were drinking beer or
liquor when they committed a violent crime against an intimate
companion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.  About half of prison and jail inmates were drinking beer
when they committed a violent crime against an intimate companion

                    Percent of inmates serving a sentence
                    for a violent crime against an intimate
                    State prison Local jail

Not drinking                53.1%       50.9%
Liquor only                 12.1         5.5
Beer only                   14.8        25.4
Beer and liquor             11.7        15.4
Other combinations           8.3         2.8

Note:  Violent crimes for the surveys of inmates include murder,
rape, sexual assault, kidnaping, robbery, assault, and other violence. 
Intimates include current and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

Sources:  BJS, Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 1991,
and Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, 1995
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Victim and inmate surveys report similar estimates of offender
alcohol and drug use in intimate violence.

Nearly half the female victims of intimate violence  report that
the offender was drinking or using illegal drugs at the time of
the crime.  This is about the same pattern of alcohol and drug
use reported from surveys of jail and prison inmates.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Offenders in State prisons convicted of a violent offense
against an intimate were more likely than violent offenders with other
types of victims to be serving a sentence for homicide.

--------------------------------------------------

Graphic.

Convicted violent offenders in State prisons 100%

Intimate violence 7.3%

  Homicide 41.6%
  Rape/sexual assault 21.0%
  Robbery 2.8%
  Assault 29.6%

Other relatives violence 9.8%
  
  Homicide 16.7%
  Rape/sexual assault 66.0%
  Robbery 1.9%
  Assault 10.0%

Friend/acquaintance violence 26.9%

  Homicide 33.8%
  Rape/sexual assault 30.1%
  Robbery 13.5%
  Assault 19.3%

Stranger violence 56.0%

  Homicide 24.0%
  Rape/sexual assault 8.2%
  Robbery 48.5%
  Assault 16.1%
---------------------------------------------------------

* About 4 in 10 violent offenders in State prison who had
intimate victims had killed their victim.  

Among violent offenders in State prisons, women were about 3
times as likely as men to have committed their crime against an intimate.

            Violent offenders 
            in State prison
Who was 
the victim? Male     Female

Intimate*   6.8%      20.1%
Not an 
intimate   93.2       79.9

*Intimates include current and former spouses, boyfriends, and
girlfriends.

State inmates serving time for violence against an intimate were
somewhat more likely to be white and less likely to be black or
Hispanic.

* Offenders with intimate victims were also likely to be
somewhat older than other violent offenders


Characteristic of    When the     When the
violent offenders    victim was   victim was not
in State prisons     an intimate* an intimate

Male                   89.6%        96.8%
Female                 10.4          3.2

White                  46.8%        36.9%
Black                  40.8         46.5
Hispanic                9.5         13.9
Other                   2.9          2.6

Age 24 or younger       9.8%        19.5%
25-34                  41.1         44.9
35 or older            49.1         35.6


8th grade or less      14.6%        14.3%
9th-11th grade         24.3         24.9
High school
   graduate            45.2         49.3
Some college           15.9         11.4

*Intimates include current and former spouses, boyfriends, and
girlfriends.

An estimated 29% of State prisoners who committed a violent
crime against an intimate-- a current or former spouse,
boyfriend, or girlfriend -- were armed at the time with a gun.

* Whether against an intimate, an acquaintance, or a stranger --
about the same percentage of State prison inmates convicted of a 
violent crime used a firearm in their crime.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic.  Among State prisoners in prison for committing
a violent crime against an intimate, 29% reported carrying 
a firearm at the time 

Victim's relation     Percent of prisoners who reported 
to violent prisoner   carrying a firearm during the offense

Intimate                          28.9%
Stranger                          29.4
Acquaintance                      26.7
Other family member                9.2

Note: Violent crimes for the survey of inmates include
murder, rape, sexual assault, kidnaping, robbery, assault,
and other violence. Intimates include current and former
spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

Source: BJS, Survey of Inmates in State Correctional
Facilities, 1991.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Among victims of intimate violence, 17% of the female victims
and 29% of the males reported that the offender had used a
weapon.

* For those men who had faced an intimate wielding a weapon, the
weapon was more likely to have been a sharp or blunt object
rather than a knife or firearm.  

* Among the women reporting violence by an armed intimate,
firearms, knives, and objects used as weapons were mentioned
with about the same frequency.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8 in 10 inmates serving time in State prison for violence
against an intimate killed or injured their victim. 


                   Victim's relation to the prisoner
                          Other     Acquain-
Victim injury  Intimate/a relative  tance    Stranger

   Any            79.2%    47.8%     69.8%     51.5%

Death             47.3     18.4      38.7      28.6
Rape/sexual 
  assault         12.6     19.3      11.6       6.4
Stab  wound        5.0      1.4       3.9       4.0
Gunshot wound      2.2      2.4       6.9       3.7
Severe internal 
injuries/b         1.9      1.6       2.7       3.0
Bruises or cuts    7.9      2.5       5.0       4.8
Other              2.3      2.2       1.1       1.0

a/Intimates include current and former spouses, boyfriends, and
girlfriends.
b/Injuries include broken bones, lost teeth, and being knocked
unconscious.

* Among all victims of violent crime committed by State
prisoners, the rate of death or injury was higher for intimates
than for any other category.

The median sentence of State prisoners for assault was 4 years
longer if the victim was the offender's spouse rather than a
stranger.


                      Victim's relation to the prisoner
                                                                               
               All                Ex-spouse,             Friend/
               violent            nonmarital    Other    acquain-
Offense        offenders  Spouse  intimate     relative  tance     Stranger

Median 
sentence

All violent 
offenses        180 mo     180 mo   180 mo      144 mo   180 mo     168 mo
Homicide        264        300      240         240      264        300
  Assault       120        168      120         108      108        120

Percent of 
prisoners--

With a 
life sentence   16.6%     32.5%    14.9%         10.3%    18.4%     18.3%

Having a life 
sentence, were
convicted of 
homicide        46.8%     47.9%    29.7%         35.4%    41.2%     52.5%

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Appendix 1.  Defining the victim-offender relationship
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The various sources used in this report obtain data on the
relationship between victims and the offenders who committed the
violent crimes against them.  While the series have slight
differences in the level of specificity, they are generally
quite similar in the types of relationships described.  These
relationship categories, when aggregated to more general
groupings, result in a category of intimates which includes
current and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.  Each
data series provides an option for coding an unknown
relationship between the victim and offender.  

The NCVS queries victims of personal contact crimes about their
relationship to the offender, if any.  The sequence of questions
is similar for both those victims who report a single offender
and attacked them and those who report multiple offenders
attacked them.  For purposes of this report, the victim/offender
relationship categories contained in the questionnaire were
grouped into the following:


Offender's relation to the victim --
Stranger     Acquaintance           Intimate         Other family

              Known by sight only   Spouse           Parent/
              Casual                Ex-spouse          step-parent
              Friend/ex-friend      Boyfriend/       Own child/
              Roommate/boarder         girlfriend/     stepchild
              Schoolmate               ex-boyfriend/  Brother/sister
              Neighbor                 ex-girlfriend  Other relative
              Someone at work/
              customer
              Other nonrelative

The sex of offenders coded as intimates may be the same as or
different from the victim's sex.

The Supplementary Homicide Reports of the FBI (SHR), which
gathers data from local police departments on each homicide,
provides 28 categories for the victim-offender relationship. 
These relationships were recoded to more general categories
paralleling those used for the NCVS:

Victim's relation to the offender was--
Stranger   Acquaintance    Intimate                      Other family

            Acquaintance  Husband                        Mother
            Friend        Common-law husband             Father
            Neighbor      Ex-husband                     Son
            Employee      Wife                           Daughter
            Employer      Common-law wife                Brother
            Other known   Ex-wife                        Sister
                          Boyfriend                      In-law
                          Girlfriend                     Stepfather
                          Homosexual                     Stepmother
                             relationship                 Stepson              
                                                          Stepdaughter         
                                                         Other family

The victim segment of the FBI's National Incident-Based
Reporting System (NIBRS) is much like the victim/offender
component of the SHR.  NIBRS relationship codes were recoded in
this study as shown below:

Victim's relation to the offender was --
Stranger      Acquaintance           Intimate           Other family

              Acquaintance           Spouse             Parent
              Friend                 Common-law         Step-parent
              Neighbor                  spouse          Own child
              Babysittee (the child) Ex-spouse          Stepchild
              Child of boyfriend/    Boyfriend/         Sibling
                girlfriend             girlfriend       Stepsibling
              Employee               Homosexual         Grandparent
              Employer                 relationship     Grandchild 
              Other known                               In-law 
                                                        Other family

This report also presents data gathered from hospital emergency
departments under the Survey of Injured Victims of Violence
(SIVV).  Codes used in this collection to represent these
relationships were as follows:

Offender's relation to the victim was--
Stranger      Acquaintance    Intimate      Other family

              Friend           Spouse          Parent
              Inmate/patient   Ex-spouse       Child
              Other known      Boyfriend/      Sibling
                                  girlfriend   Other relative


The BJS Survey of Inmates in Local Jails and the Survey of
Inmates in State Correctional Facilities provide for the
collection of detailed victim information from convicted violent
offenders.  These data were recoded to the same four general
categories of victim-offender relationship:

Offender's relation to the victim was--
Strange      Acquaintance         Intimate           Other family

             Known by sight only  Spouse             Parent/
             Casual acquaintance  Ex-spouse             step-parent
             Well-known           Boyfriend/         Own child/
             Friend/ex-friend       ex-boyfriend       stepchild
             Other nonrelative    Girlfriend/        Sibling/stepsibling
                                     ex-girlfriend   Other relative