According to the National Domestic Abuse Hotline : “Domestic violence and abuse stem from a desire to gain and maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abusive people believe that they have the right to control and restrict their partners, and they may enjoy the feeling that exerting power gives them. They often believe that their own feelings and needs should be the priority in their relationships, so they use abusive tactics to dismantle equality and make their partners feel less valuable and deserving of respect in the relationship.” Here are numerous statistics from the National Domestic Abuse Hotline that delve deeper into abuse and gender: On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the U.S. — more than 12 million women and men over the course of a year. Nearly 3 in 10 women and 1 in 10 men in the U.S. have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by a partner. Nearly 15% of women and 4% of men have been injured as a result of intimate partner violence that included rape, physical violence, and/or stalking in their lifetime. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men aged 18 and older in the U.S. have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.