Men account for most violence outside the home however, women instigate most family violence and women assault family members more frequently and more severely. Below is an example of rates of severe violence from three national scientific surveys on violence between spouses. The studies were conducted over a 20 year period by The Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire, under grants from the National Institute of Mental Health. Other Studies on Family Violence . . . There are dozens of studies that reveal similar findings.
Women initiate most incidents of family violence.
Women commit most child abuse and most elder abuse. Women hit their male children more frequently and more severely that they hit their female children. When women murder adults the majority of their victims are men. Women commit half of spousal murders. Eighty one per cent of the people interviewed had their first experience of violence at the hands of a women.