Domestic violence is epidemic in the American family.
The yearly incidence, of husbands physically assaulting their wives, is twelve percent. 226,890 domestic violence reports were made to the New York City Police Department during 1999. During 1998 this number was 240,034 cases. While homicide rates have dropped precipitously in New York City, the rate of women being murdered by intimate partners has remained the same. From 1990-1997 this rate has averaged 1.5 per 100,000 women.