Every 15 seconds a woman is battered in the United States. One third of all women in the U.S. will be abused in their lifetime. Domestic violence occurs among all races, religions and socioeconomic groups. Of the 44,000 calls received by the National Domestic Violence Hotline in 1996, the 817 area code ranked in the top ten. In the U.S., a woman is more likely to be assaulted, raped, injured or killed by a male partner than any other type of assailant.
Women are more likely to be victims of homicide when they are estranged from their partners.
The first two months of separation are the most lethal. Domestic violence is the single most underreported crime in the United States.