The term is often used to refer to spousal abuse and battering. The article reports that four to seven percent of women in Oklahoma are physically assaulted by their partners annually. Nationally, about 16 to 30 percent of women treated in emergency departments are there for injuries directly or indirectly related to intimate partner violence. It occurs among all ages, races, genders, and socioeconomic groups. The U.S. Bureau of Justice reports, however, that women are more than seven times likely to be victimized by an intimate partner than men.
Many theories exist as to why some men use violence against their partners.
These theories include family dysfunction, inadequate communication skills, provocation by women, stress, chemical dependency, lack of spirituality and economic hardship. These issues are associated with the violence but are not the causes of it. The abuser uses violent behavior to gain or keep control over another person and usually gets away without consequences for the behavior. Abusers come from all groups and backgrounds and from all personality profiles. Some warning signs include extreme jealousy, a bad temper, possessiveness, unpredictability, cruelty to animals and verbal abusiveness.