Introduction Women may be afraid of strangers, but it's a husband, a lover, a boyfriend, or someone they know who is most likely to hurt them. According to a U.S. Justice Department study, two-thirds of violent attacks against women are committed by someone the woman knows. In the United States, the most dangerous place for a woman is in her own home, where anger may explode into violence. Approximately 1,500 women are killed each year by husbands or boyfriends. There is no excuse for abuse.
Most experts say there is no one profile of men who batter or beat women.
Domestic violence crosses all social and economic boundaries. According to Dr. Susan Hanks , Director of the Family and Violence Institute in Alameda, California, men batter because of internal psychological struggles. Usually, men who batter are seeking a sense of power and control over their partners or their own lives, or because they are tremendously dependent on the woman and are threatened by any moves on her part toward independence. Some men batter because that's the only way they know how to be close to or relate to a partner. Some men grew up in violent households, where they watched their mothers abused by their fathers and where they themselves were abused.