U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

 

Violence by Intimates

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

Number of 

intimate 

murder victims

Male victims

Female victims

0

400

800

1,200

1,600

1976 1980 1985 1990 1996 

Note: Intimates include spouses, ex-spouses, common-law spouses,

same sex partners, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

Intimates committed fewer murders in 1995 and 1996

than in any other year since 1976. 

Between 1976 and 1996, for persons murdered by intimates,

the number of male victims fell an average 5% per year, 

and the number of female victims went down an average 1%.

Bureau of Justice Statistics Factbook
Violence by Intimates

Analysis of Data on Crimes 

by Current or Former Spouses, 

Boyfriends, and Girlfriends

By Lawrence A. Greenfeld

BJS Deputy Director

Michael R. Rand 

Chief, Victimization Statistics

Diane Craven, Ph.D.

Patsy A. Klaus

Craig A. Perkins

Cheryl Ringel

Greg Warchol, Ph.D.

BJS Statisticians

Cathy Maston

BJS Statistical Assistant

and

James Alan Fox, Ph.D.

Dean and Professor, Northeastern University

BJS Visiting Fellow

NCJ-167237 March 1998 

 

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics
ii Violence by Intimates

U.S. Department of Justice

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D.

Director

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 Noël 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.

This report and other reports and data are 

available from the BJS Internet Web site:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

All of the data analyzed in this report may be 

obtained from the National Archive of Criminal

Justice Data at the University of Michigan,

1-800-999-0960. Access to the archive may be

achieved through the BJS Web site or directly at

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/archive.html
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 Noël 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

 Violence by Intimates iii

Foreword

Revised 5/29/98
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, exspouses, 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.

Violence by Intimates v

Highlights
 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.

 

vi Violence by Intimates 
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

Violence by Intimates vii

Introduction
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, victimoffender 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

viii Violence by Intimates

Revised 5/29/98
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

Percent

10,137,384

93.7%

680,604

6.3%

10,817,989

100%

Rape/Sexual

assault

Number

Percent

434,566

93.1%

27,191

6.9%

461,757

100%

Robbery

Number

Percent

1,227,550

97.5%

36,845

2.5%

1,264,395

100%

Aggravated

assault

Number

Percent

2,230,174

93.1%

117,167

5.1%

2,347,341

100%

Simple assault

Number

Percent

6,245,095

93.1%

499,402

6.9%

6,744,496

100%

Intimate violence, 1992-96

Non-series Series Total

Female victims 88.5% 11.5% 100%

Male victims 90.2 9.8 100

Violence by Intimates ix

Revised 5/29/98
Foreword iii

Highlights v

Introduction vii

Trends in violence against intimates 1

What have been the trends in:

Violent victimization of intimates?

Intimate murder?

Characteristics of victims and incidents 

of intimate violence 11

Who has the highest rates of

 victimization by an intimate?

 Where and when does intimate 

violence occur?

Responses to intimate violence 17

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 23

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 31

Appendix 2: Data for graphical figures 35

Contents

Violence by Intimates xi

 Please note that the following pages 

 in this report are blank:

 iv, x, xii, 2, 12, 18, 24, 30, 32, and 36. 

 The Acrobat file skips these blanks.

 
 Violence by Intimates 1

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
 Violence by Intimates 3

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).

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

0

300,000

600,000

900,000

1,200,000

Female victims

Male victims

Number of violent victimizations

committed by intimates

Note: Violent victimizations include murder, rape, sexual assault, robbery,

and aggravated and simple assault. Intimates include current and former

spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

837,899

147,896

 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.

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. 

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

0

2

4

6

8

10

7.5

1.4 Male victims

Female victims

Rate of violent victimization by intimates

per 1,000 persons of each sex age 12 or older
4 Violence by Intimates

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.

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

0

15

30

45

60

75

Total violent victimizations - males

Victimization by intimates - females 7.5

Victimization by intimates - males 1.4

Total violent victimizations - females

37.1

53

Rate of violent victimizations per

1,000 persons of each group age 12 or older 

Note: Violent victimizations include murder, rape, sexual

assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault. Intimates

include current and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

0

4

8

12

16

20

Other relatives

Intimates

Friends/

acquaintances

Strangers

7.5

Rate of murder, rape, robbery, and assault

per 1,000 females age 12 or older 

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.

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

0

10

20

30

40

Strangers

Friends/acquaintances

Intimates Other relatives

1.4

Rate of murder, rape, robbery, and assault

per 1,000 males age 12 or older
 Violence by Intimates 5

Analysis of trends in intimate murder, 1976-96

by James Alan Fox, Ph.D., BJS Visiting Fellow

 

Intimate 

homicides

1976 1980 1985 1990 1996 

Spouse

Ex-spouse

Boyfriend/girlfriend

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.

Male victims

Female victims

0

400

800

1,200

1,600

Number of intimate 

murder victims

1976 1980 1985 1990 1996 

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 victimoffender 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). 

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Female victims of intimate murder

Male victims of intimate murder

1976 1980 1985 1990 1996 

Percent of all 

murders of each sex

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%.

*For a presentation of rates, see pages 7 to 9.
6 Violence by Intimates

Since 1976 nearly 52,000 men and women have been

murdered by those with whom they shared an 

intimate relationship. 

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 exspouse 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.

All victims of murder and nonnegligent 

manslaughter, 1976-96

446,370 (100%)

Female victims

105,175 (23.7%)

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%)

Assailant was unknown to the police

29,203 (27.8%)

Assailant was other relative, friend, 

acquaintance, or stranger to victim

44,713 (42.5%)

Assailant was boyfriend or other intimate

9,902 (9.4%)

Assailant was ex-spouse

1,466 (1.4%)

Assailant was spouse

19,892 (18.9%)

Male victims

340,687 (76.3%)
 Violence by Intimates 7

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.

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.

0

3

6

9

12

15

1976 1980 1985 1990 1996

Black victims

White victims

Rate of intimate murder per 100,000 

persons age 20-44 in each group

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.

0

4

8

12

16

20

1976 1980 1985 1990 1996

Black male victims

Black female victims

White female victims White male victims

Rate of intimate murder per 100,000 

persons age 20-44 in each group
8 Violence by Intimates

Boyfriend

Girlfriend

Girlfriend

Boyfriend

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Wife/ex-wife

Husband/ex-husband

1976 1980 1985 1990 1996 

White victims of murder by an intimate

0

3

6

9

12

15

Rate per 100,000 persons

age 20-44*

Rate per 100,000 persons

age 20-44*

Husband/ex-husband

Wife/ex-wife

1976 1980 1985 1990 1996 

Black victims of murder by an intimate

*Rates are based on the following segments of the population for each race: 

married and divorced for spouse/ex-spouse rates and never married and 

widowed for boyfriend/girlfriend rates.

The decline in the rate of intimate

murder among black husbands/exhusbands has been greater than 

for any other category of intimate

murder victims. 

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 

Revised 5/29/98
 Violence by Intimates 9

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.

Year

Murders of white 

females (ages 20-44)

by boyfriends or other

nonmarital intimates

Population of never

married or widowed

white women, 

ages 20-44

Rate of murder 

per 100,000

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

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.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

17 or

younger

18-

24

25-

29

30-

34

35-

39

40-

44

45-

49

50-

59

60 or

older

Female murder victims

Male

murder

victims

Percent of murder victims

killed by intimates

Age of victims

Among murder victims for every age group, females are much more likely than males 

to have been murdered by an intimate. 
10 Violence by Intimates

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.

Because rates of intimate murder have declined faster

among male than female victims, the ratio of female-tomale 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.

0

1

2

3

4

1976 1980 1985 1990 1996

Ratio of females

to males as victims 

of intimate murder

Whites

Blacks

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

1976 1980 1985 1990 1995 

Intimate 

murders

With guns

Without guns 

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%).

Over the two decades more than 33,500 persons were 

murdered by a current or former spouse or by a 

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.

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.
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

 Violence by Intimates 11
 Violence by Intimates 13

The highest rates of intimate violence 

affected women ages 16 to 24.

 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.

12-15 16-19 20-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65 or

0

5

10

15

20

25

Age of female victims of intimates

older *

Average annual rate of violent victimization 

per 1,000 females, 1992-96

Note: Violent victimizations include murder, rape, sexual assault, robbery,

and aggravated and simple assaults. Intimates include current and former

spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

*Fewer than 10 sample cases.

 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.

White

Black

Other

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic

0 3 6 9 12

White

Black

Other*

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic

0 3 6 9 12

Females, 

age 12 or older, 

1992-96

Males, 

age 12 or older, 

1992-96

Average annual rate of violent victimization

by an intimate per 1,000 females

Average annual rate of violent victimization

by an intimate per 1,000 males

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.

Among female victims of nonlethal intimate violence, blacks experienced higher rates 

than whites. White and black males experienced the same rates of intimate violence.

Characteristics of victims of violence by intimates
14 Violence by Intimates

Urban

Suburban

Rural

0 2 4 6 8 10

Urban

Suburban

Rural

0 2 4 6 8 10

Females, 1996

Males, 1992-96

Rate of violent victimization by an intimate 

per 100,000 persons of each sex

Note: Nonlethal violent victimizations include rape,

sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple

assault. Intimates are current and former spouses,

boyfriends, and girlfriends.

Urban women experienced a higher rate 

of nonlethal violence from an intimate than 

suburban and rural women.

 The rates of intimate violence experienced by 

urban, suburban, and rural men had little variation.

Less than $7,500

$7,500-$14,999

$15,000-$24,999

$25,000-$34,999

$35,000-$49,999

$50,000-$74,999

$75,000 or more

0 5 10 15 20 25

Less than $7,500

$7,500-$14,999

$15,000-$24,999

$25,000-$34,999

$35,000-$49,999

$50,000-$74,999

$75,000 or more

0 5 10 15 20 25

*

Average annual rate of violent 

victimization by an intimate 

per 1,000 persons of each sex

Males, 1992-96

Females, 1992-96

Household income

Note: Nonlethal violent victimizations are rape, sexual

assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault.

Intimates include current and former spouses, boyfriends,

and girlfriends.

*Fewer than 10 sample cases.

Women in low-income households 

experienced a higher rate of nonlethal 

violence by an intimate than did women 

in households with larger incomes.

 The rate of intimate violence against women 

generally decreased as household income 

levels increased.

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 

 Threatened to rape 

 Threatened other attack 

 Threatened with weapon 

 Threw object at victim 

 Followed/surrounded victim

 Tried to hit, slap, or knock

 down victim 

*Victims may report more than one type of threat.

31%

 1

53

17

 3

 5

13
 Violence by Intimates 15

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. 

 The patterns are similar for men and women.

At or near own home

At or near other's home

Commercial place

At school

Open area or parking lot

Other

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Male victims of violence by intimates

At or near own home

At or near other's home

Commercial place

At school

Open area or parking lot

Other

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Female victims of violence by intimates

Note: Nonlethal violent victimizations include rape,

sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple

assault. Intimates include current and former

spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

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 victims Male 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 victmizations 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.

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 stepchildren) 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

1 2 3-5 6 or more

6%

69 %

14% 12%

Number of occurrences of intimate 

violence in previous 6 months

Percent of 

female victims 

of intimate violence

Note: Nonlethal violent victimizations include rape, sexual

assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault.

Intimates include current and former spouses,boyfriends,

and girlfriends. Series victimizations involve 6 or more

occurrences in one 6-month reporting period. See page 6.

Nearly a third of female victims of nonlethal 

intimate violence were victimized at least twice 

during the previous 6 months.
16 Violence by Intimates

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 p.m. and midnight.

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. 

Percent of incidents of intimate violence

All intimate

assaults*

Aggravated

assault

Simple 

assault

Intimidation

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.

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

Midnight

Midnight6 Noon 6 9 9

Percent of intimate 

violence incidents

Time of occurrence

3 3

a.m. p.m.

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. 
 Violence by Intimates 17

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
Violence by Intimates 19

Responses to nonlethal intimate violence 

called the 

police or 

other help, 

or used

other nonconfrontational 

means 

of selfdefense

23% offered no 

active

resistance 

to the 

violence

43% tried to escape 

from the offender, 

34% confronted

the offender by 

 struggling, 

 shouting,

 chasing or 

 other means 

 without a 

 weapon (30%) 

 or with a 

 weapon (4%)

About three-fourths of female victims of nonlethal intimate violence 

actively defended themselves against the offender.

1993 1994 1995 1996

0%

50%

100%

Percent of female victims 

of intimate violence reporting 

the crime to the police

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

 For female victims of intimate violence, the likelihood of reporting an incident to the police did not

change significantly between 1993 and 1996.

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

Female victims of intimate violence, 1992-96

*Fewer than 10 cases.

Most important reasons

given for not reporting

Private or personal matter

Afraid of offender retaliation

Police would do nothing

Incident was not important enough

No one reason most important

Reported to another official

Don't know

Other

.7*

7.3

4.4

3.5

1.7

13.6

1.1

15.4%

Violent crime

against an intimate

reported to the police

52.1%

Violent crime

against an intimate

not reported to the police

47.8%

 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.”

Revised 5/29/98
20 Violence by Intimates

Female victims of intimate violence, 1992-96

Actions taken by the police

Took an official report

Questioned witness/suspect

Arrested the offender 

Searched for/collected evidence

Promised surveillance/investigation

Police responded or 

victim went to the police

88%

Police did 

not respond

11%

70%

29

20

6

4

Violent crime against an

intimate reported to the police

51%

Ultimately, about 1 in 3 offenders

identified by the victim 

were eventually arrested or

charged for the victimization 

between the time of the incident

and the interview with the victim.

Violent crime against 

an intimate not 

reported to the police

49%

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.

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.

Within 5 minutes

Within 10 minutes

Within an hour

More than an hour

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Police reponse time, 

according to the victims

Percent of female victims 

of intimate violence who said 

the police were called

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.

Female victims who reported 

the victimization to --

Annual average number of female 

victims of intimate violence 

 960,400

51,000 A victim service agency 

 (governmental or private)

390,500 The police or another law

 enforcement agency

109,800 Both a victim service 

 agency and the police

411,000 Neither a victim service

 agency nor the police

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.
Violence by Intimates 21

Female victims of intimate violence, 1992-96

Not 

treated

 

 32%

Treated

at doctor's

office or 

clinic

3%

Treated

at an

emergency

room

7%

Hospitalized

<1%*

Physically injured

 51%

No reported

physical injury

 49%

Cared 

for at the

scene or 

at home

9%

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.

About half of the female victims of violence 

by an intimate were injured. 

Female victims of intimate violence, 1992-96

Gun, 

knife

or stab

wound

 0.5%

Injured

 51%

Not injured

 49%

Rape

or sexual

assault

 6%

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.

Injuries and losses reported by victims of intimate violence

Female victims of intimate violence, 1992-96

Type of 

expense or loss

Percent of 

victims experiencing an expense or loss

Average 

expense or 

loss per victim 

reporting a loss 

Estimated total

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

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.

 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 (see page 27).

 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.
22 Violence by Intimates

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.

Patients treated in hospital 

emergency departments

Victims of 

intimate violence

Victims of 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.

Number of emergency room visits for intentional injury

Total

Males

Females

0 300,000 600,000 900,000 1,200,000 1,500,000

Injured 

by

intimate

Relationship

not

recorded

Injured by 

stranger, 

acquaintance,

friend, or 

nonintimate relative

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.

 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.
Violence by Intimates 23

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
 Convicted violent

 offenders in local jails

 100%

Homicide

4.7%

Rape/sexual assault

12.3%

Robbery

2.4%

Assault

72.3%

Homicide

2.0%

Rape/sexual assault

52.4%

Robbery

3.7%

Assault

34.4%

Homicide

8.6%

Rape/sexual assault

23.5%

Robbery

14.1%

Assault

46.4%

Homicide

7.5%

Rape/sexual assault

3.6%

Robbery

46.8%

Assault

36.6%

Intimate 

violence

 23.6%

Stranger

violence

 41.9%

Friend/

acquaintance 

violence

 25.9%

Other relatives 

violence

 8.6%

Note: Intimate violence includes violent offenses committed against

current and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

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. 

 Violence by Intimates 25

Profile of convicted intimate offenders

Convicted intimate violent

offenders in local jails

 100%

Previously placed under a

restraining or protection order

 50.9%

No history of restraining

or protection orders

 49.1%

Who was the victim

of the intimate violence?

 Spouse

 39.3%

 Boyfriend, 

 girlfriend, 

 or ex-spouse

 60.7%

Who took out the 

restraining or protection order?

 Spouse

 39.9%

 Boyfriend, girlfriend, or

 ex-spouse

 42.4%

 Other relatives or acquaintances

 17.7%

Who was the victim

of the intimate violence?

 Spouse

 33.9%

 Boyfriend,

 girlfriend,

 or ex-spouse

 66.1%

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.
26 Violence by Intimates

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.

Restraining order

9.2%

Probation

19.7%

Other status*

4.3% No criminal justice status

62.5%

Parole

4.3%

Note: Intimate violence includes violent offenses committed against

current and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

*"Other status" includes programs such as electronic monitoring, 

alcohol/drug diversion, and weekend sentences.

 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. 

 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.

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

Drinking only

Drinking and drugs

No drinking or drugs

43.7%

13%

7.7%

35.6%

Using drugs

only

Drinking only

31.1%

Using drugs only

3.9%

Drinking and drugs

20.4%

No drinking or drugs

44.6%

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.

State prisoners

Jail inmates

 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 an intimate 

State 

prisoners

Convicted 

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

 Violence by Intimates 27

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.

Not drinking

Liquor only

Beer only

Beer and liquor

Other combinations

Not drinking

Liquor only

Beer only

Beer and liquor

Other combinations

0% 20% 40% 60%

State prisoners

Jail inmates

Percent of inmates who had 

been convicted of a violent 

crime against an intimate

What they were drinking

What they were drinking

About half of prison and jail inmates were drinking

beer or liquor when they committed a violent crime

against an intimate companion.

Number of

ounces of 

ethanol 

reported to 

have been

consumed

Cumulative percentage of jail inmates

who were drinking

when they committed

a violent crime against

an intimate

Approximate

number of 

drinks to equal

the amount 

of ethanol

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

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.

Revised 5/29/98
Violent offenders 

in State prisons

 100%

Intimate 

violence

 7.3%

Homicide

41.6%

Rape/sexual assault

21.0%

Robbery

2.8%

Assault

29.6%

Homicide

16.7%

Rape/sexual assault

66.0%

Robbery

1.9%

Assault

10.0%

Homicide

33.8%

Rape/sexual assault

30.1%

Robbery

13.5%

Assault

19.3%

Stranger

violence

 56.0%

Other relative 

violence

 9.8%

Friend/

acquaintance 

violence

 26.9%

Homicide

24.0%

Rape/sexual assault

8.2%

Robbery

48.5%

Assault

16.1%

Note: Intimate violence includes violent offenses committed against

current and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

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.

 About 4 in 10 

violent offenders 

in State prison 

who had intimate

victims had killed

their victim. 

28 Violence by Intimates

State inmates serving time for violence against

an intimate were somewhat more likely to be

white and less likely to be black or Hispanic.

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.

Characteristic of 

violent offenders

in State prisons

When the 

victim was 

an intimate*

When the 

victim was not 

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.

 Offenders with intimate victims were also likely 

to be somewhat older than other violent offenders.
Violence by Intimates 29

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.

Intimate

Stranger

Acquaintance

Other family

0% 10% 20% 30%

Percent of prisoners reporting 

that they carried a firearm 

during the offense

Single victim of violent 

State prisoner

Victim's relation to the prisoner

Victim injury Intimatea

Other 

relative Acquaintance 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 injuriesb 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.

8 in 10 inmates serving time in State prison for violence 

against an intimate killed or injured their victim. 

 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

Offense

All violent

offenders Spouse

Ex-spouse,

nonmarital

intimate Other relative

Friend/

acquaintance 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%

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.

 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.
 Violence by Intimates 31

Appendix 1: Defining the victimoffender relationship
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:

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:

The victim segment of the FBI's National IncidentBased Reporting System (NIBRS) is much

like the victim/offender component of the SHR.

NIBRS relationship codes were recoded in this

study as shown below:

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:

 Violence by Intimates 33

Offender's relation to the victim was

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

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

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

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:

34 Violence by Intimates

Offender's relation to the victim was

Stranger 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
Appendix 2: Data for graphical figures

 Violence by Intimates 35
 Violence by Intimates 37

Page 3. 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 145,650 163,558 176,168 115,483 147,896

Female 952,188 1,072,072 1,003,16

7

953,683 837,899

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

Cover and page 5. Intimates 

committed fewer murders in 1995 

and 1996 than in any year since 1976

Murders of an intimate

Year

Male

victims

Female

victims

1976 1,357 1,600

1977 1,294 1,437

1978 1,202 1,482

1979 1,262 1,506

1980 1,220 1,550

1981 1,278 1,572

1982 1,141 1,480

1983 1,112 1,462

1984 989 1,443

1985 957 1,546

1986 985 1,586

1987 933 1,494

1988 855 1,582

1989 903 1,414

1990 858 1,500

1991 779 1,518

1992 722 1,456

1993 708 1,581

1994 692 1,405

1995 547 1,320

1996 516 1,326

Note: Intimates include spouses, exspouses, 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.

Page 3. 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, exspouses, 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.
38 Violence by Intimates

Page 4. Among female victims of violence, 

strangers 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.

Page 4. Among male victims of violence, 

strangers and friends or acquaintances accounted

for the highest rates of victimization

Rate of violent victimization 

per 1,000 men

Victim-offender

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 2.0 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.

Page 4. 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 53.0

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
 Violence by Intimates 39

Page 5. 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, exspouses, 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.

Page 5. 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 2,174 123 662

1977 2,017 110 603

1978 1,940 116 629

1979 1,940 146 683

1980 1,911 115 744

1981 1,946 136 768

1982 1,722 136 763

1983 1,676 128 770

1984 1,501 97 833

1985 1,581 111 811

1986 1,542 127 901

1987 1,489 96 841

1988 1,467 100 869

1989 1,326 78 913

1990 1,371 110 879

1991 1,297 82 918

1992 1,262 81 834

1993 1,232 94 964

1994 1,145 91 861

1995 1,030 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.
40 Violence by Intimates

Page 7. Over the last two decades intimate murder rates

dropped far more rapidly 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 11.10 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.
Violence by Intimates 41

Page 8. 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

Year

Husband

Ex-husband Boyfriend

Wife/

Ex-wife Girlfriend

Wife/

Exwife Girlfriend

Husband

Ex-husband Boyfriend

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 15.90 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 10.80 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 1.60 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 6.40

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.
42 Violence by Intimates

Page 10. In 1976 guns were used 

in about 71% of intimate murders; 

in 1996, in about 61%

Murders of an intimate

Year

With

guns

Without

guns

1976 2,113 846

1977 1,916 814

1978 1,863 822

1979 2,008 761

1980 1,939 831

1981 1,929 921

1982 1,738 883

1983 1,663 911

1984 1,578 853

1985 1,642 861

1986 1,673 897

1987 1,574 852

1988 1,515 921

1989 1,441 876

1990 1,477 883

1991 1,397 900

1992 1,378 799

1993 1,498 792

1994 1,342 755

1995 1,163 703

1996 1,168 640

Note: Intimates include spouses, exspouses, common-law spouses, same sex

partners, boyfriends, and girlfriends. Data

are for all ages of victims.

Source: FBI, Supplementary Homicide 

Reports (SHR), 1976-96.

Page 9. 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, commonlaw spouses, same sex partners, boyfriends, and girlfriends. Murder includes nonnegligent manslaughter. 

Source: FBI, Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR),

1976-96.

Page 10. 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

male victim of intimate murder

Year 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, commonlaw 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.
 Violence by Intimates 43

Page 14. 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.

Page 13. The highest rates of intimate 

violence affect women ages 16 to 24

Age of 

female victim

Average annual rate of 

nonlethal violent victimization 

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 .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.

Page 13. 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

Othera .5 5.6

Hispanicb 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.
Page 15. 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.

Page 14. 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 does not include murder. 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.

44 Violence by Intimates
Violence by Intimates 45

Page 19. About half the women who 

are victimized by an intimate report 

the violence to law enforcement

Year

Percent of female victims 

of intimate violence who 

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.

Page 22. 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

violence

Other types

of violence

Unrecorded

relationship

Total 243,316 700,777 383,633

Males 38,958 487,814 287,233

Females 204,358 212,963 96,400

Note: Intimates for SIVV include current and former

spouses and current boyfriends and girlfriends. 

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

1994.

Page 20. Nearly 6 in 10 women who called the 

police when victimized by an intimate said that 

the police arrived within 10 minutes

Police

arrived 

within 

Percent of female victims 

of intimate violence who 

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.

Page 16. Almost 30% of intimate

violence occurs from 9 in the 

evening till midnight

Time

Percent of intimate violence 

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.
Page 27. About half of prison and jail 

inmates were drinking beer or liquor 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

Page 29. Among State prisoners in prison for

committing a violent crime against an intimate,

29% reported carrying a firearm at the time 

Victim's relation

to violent prisoner

Percent of prisoners who 

reported 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.

46 Violence by Intimates