These early patterns of behavior carry over into the marriage. Those who live together before marriage abuse each other more often and more severely than dating couples or married couples. One reason suspected is that cohabitants live in isolation from the rest of their families. This puts women who cohabit in a perilous position. During a one-year period, about 35 out of every 100 cohabiting couples have experienced physical aggression, compared to 15 out of every 100 married couples.
Marriage inhibits male violence.
The National Crime Victimization Survey, conducted by the U.S. Justice Department shows that of all violent crimes against women by their relatives or intimate partners between 1979 and 1987, about 65 percent were committed by either a boyfriend or ex-husband, while only nine percent were committed by husbands. The evidence is convincing. A recent British study found that child abuse was twenty times more common in cases where the mother was cohabiting with a man other than her husband. When we consider that before 1960, cohabitation was relatively uncommon and that by the mid 1990s more than 50 percent of young couples were choosing to cohabit either before or in place of marriage, it should be no surprise that the incidence of domestic violence has increased. Those who live together before marriage suffer from greater depression and anxiety.