Domestic violence reporting rates remain low in the United States

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that nearly one in four women in the United States will experience severe physical violence from an intimate partner during their lifetime. When the scope of the data is expanded to include stalking and sexual violence, more than one in three women—approximately 43.5 million—report experiencing such abuse.

Research shows that violence often begins early in life. Approximately 16 million women experienced intimate partner violence before the age of 18, and most victims encounter an abusive partner before age 25.

Despite the prevalence of these incidents, reporting rates to law enforcement remain low. Bureau of Justice Statistics data shows that between 2006 and 2015, police were notified in only about 56% of the estimated 1.3 million nonfatal domestic violence victimizations occurring annually. This suggests that for every two incidents, roughly one goes unreported to the police.