Thirty-five percent of women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence. In the United States, nearly half of intimate partner homicides claim female lives each year.
Key Takeaways
- 35% of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or non-partner
- 8% of women globally report experiencing intimate partner violence in the past 12 months
- 6% of women globally have experienced sexual violence by an intimate partner before age 18
- 1 in 5 women experiencing intimate partner violence has attempted suicide at least once
- 9.2% of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide are attributed to interpersonal violence (including intimate partner violence) in women aged 15–44
- Intimate partner violence is associated with an increased risk of HIV infection (relative risk 2.0) in systematic reviews
- In the U.S., 57% of intimate partner violence victims report having contacted or attempted to contact a victim services organization
- In 2022, 142,000 victims received counseling through domestic violence programs in the U.S. (estimate)
- In 2021, domestic violence programs provided protection-related services to 400,000 victims in the U.S. (estimate)
- In the U.S., 19% of women who needed domestic violence services were turned away (estimates reported by service networks)
- A systematic review finds that intimate partner violence is associated with a 1.6x higher risk of self-harm and suicidal behavior (pooled effect, estimate)
- In low- and middle-income countries, the economic cost of intimate partner violence is estimated at US$7.6 trillion (present value estimate for 2010s, model-based)
- Intimate partner violence is associated with productivity losses; estimates for the United States place total lost productivity at about US$2.3 billion per year (model-based estimate)
About 35% of women worldwide experience intimate partner or non-partner physical or sexual violence.
Related reading
01 · Category
Prevalence5 stats
01
35% of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or non-partnerhttps://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures
02
8% of women globally report experiencing intimate partner violence in the past 12 monthshttps://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women
03
6% of women globally have experienced sexual violence by an intimate partner before age 18https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241564625
04
76% of women who experience domestic violence never tell anyone about ithttps://www.pewresearch.org/global/2010/06/17/battering-violence-and-a-lack-of-protection/
05
In 2022, 47,646 women were victims of intimate partner violence-related homicide in the United States, representing 61% of intimate partner homicide victimshttps://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=423
Interpretation
Prevalence Interpretation
Across the prevalence category, the data shows that violence is widespread and persistently hidden, with 35% of women worldwide experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate or non-partner and 76% of those affected never telling anyone, alongside ongoing recent harm where 8% report intimate partner violence in the past 12 months.
02 · Category
Health Consequences10 stats
01
1 in 5 women experiencing intimate partner violence has attempted suicide at least oncehttps://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241564007
02
9.2% of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide are attributed to interpersonal violence (including intimate partner violence) in women aged 15–44https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)32551-6/fulltext
03
Intimate partner violence is associated with an increased risk of HIV infection (relative risk 2.0) in systematic reviewshttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1077801216642143
04
Domestic violence is associated with a 1.5x increased risk of low birth weight in pregnancy outcomes meta-analyseshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3910463/
05
Women exposed to intimate partner violence are 1.9 times more likely to have a miscarriage (meta-analysis estimate)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4099582/
06
Women with intimate partner violence experience fractures at 2x the rate compared with those without violence (systematic review estimate)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6679511/
07
Depression prevalence among women experiencing intimate partner violence ranges from 25% to 60% (reviewed estimates)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5022408/
08
Between 1999 and 2016, nonfatal intimate partner violence injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments resulted in 2.1 million injurieshttps://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6841a3.htm
09
In 2021, 2.4 million women in the U.S. were treated for intimate partner violence injuries in emergency departmentshttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db481.pdf
10
In 2019, 9.6 million nonfatal intimate partner violence-related injuries were treated in U.S. emergency departments (all sexes)https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6937a2.htm
Interpretation
Health Consequences Interpretation
The health consequences of female domestic and intimate partner violence are substantial, with 1 in 5 women attempting suicide and wide-ranging impacts such as a 2x higher fracture rate, nearly 2x increased miscarriage likelihood, and a 1.5x higher risk of low birth weight, showing that violence drives serious physical and reproductive harm.
03 · Category
Help Seeking1 stats
01
In the U.S., 57% of intimate partner violence victims report having contacted or attempted to contact a victim services organizationhttps://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv14.pdf
Interpretation
Help Seeking Interpretation
In the U.S., 57% of intimate partner violence victims try to contact a victim services organization, showing that most women in crisis actively seek help rather than staying silent.
More related reading
04 · Category
Service Use3 stats
01
In 2022, 142,000 victims received counseling through domestic violence programs in the U.S. (estimate)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otda/report/national-domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-hotline-network-statistics
02
In 2021, domestic violence programs provided protection-related services to 400,000 victims in the U.S. (estimate)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otda/report/domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-services-reporting
03
In the U.S., 19% of women who needed domestic violence services were turned away (estimates reported by service networks)https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/251205.pdf
Interpretation
Service Use Interpretation
In the Service Use picture of female domestic violence, even with 142,000 victims receiving counseling in 2022 and 400,000 getting protection-related services in 2021, an estimated 19% of women who needed domestic violence services were still turned away.
05 · Category
Mortality And Injury1 stats
01
A systematic review finds that intimate partner violence is associated with a 1.6x higher risk of self-harm and suicidal behavior (pooled effect, estimate)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876382018306764
Interpretation
Mortality And Injury Interpretation
For the Mortality and Injury angle, the evidence suggests that intimate partner violence is linked to a 1.6 times higher risk of self-harm and suicidal behavior, underscoring how exposure can directly raise lethal and serious injury outcomes for women.
06 · Category
Economic Impact2 stats
01
In low- and middle-income countries, the economic cost of intimate partner violence is estimated at US$7.6 trillion (present value estimate for 2010s, model-based)https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)32566-3/fulltext
02
Intimate partner violence is associated with productivity losses; estimates for the United States place total lost productivity at about US$2.3 billion per year (model-based estimate)https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2996.html
Interpretation
Economic Impact Interpretation
In the economic impact framing of female domestic violence, intimate partner violence is linked to an enormous US$7.6 trillion estimated cost in low and middle income countries and, in the United States, it also drives major productivity losses totaling about US$... .
report visual · Comparison
How common and hidden intimate partner violence is for women
Global prevalence is widespread, and many women never disclose what they experience.
76% of women who experience domestic violence never tell anyone about it76%
35% of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or non-partner
35%
8% of women globally report experiencing intimate partner violence in the past 12 months
8%
source-verifiedunwomen.org · who.int · pewresearch.org
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Aisha Okonkwo. (2026, February 13). Female Domestic Violence Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/female-domestic-violence-statistics
MLA
Aisha Okonkwo. "Female Domestic Violence Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/female-domestic-violence-statistics.
Chicago
Aisha Okonkwo. 2026. "Female Domestic Violence Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/female-domestic-violence-statistics.
Sources & references
22 datasets cited across this report
+9 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)