Shocking Levels of Violence in Personal Relationships

In the realm of personal relationships, documented evidence provides one example of a serious sin which clearly demonstrates the widespread lack of respect for the rights of others. Statistics gathered on domestic violence against women, represented below by just U.S. figures, should shock us.

• At least one in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.

• Nearly 25 percent of American women report being raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner or date at some time in their life, according to the National Violence Against Women Survey, conducted from November 1995 to May 1996.

• Thirty percent of Americans say they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband or boyfriend in the past year.

• In the year 2001, 588,490 American women—well over half a million—were victims of nonfatal violence committed by an intimate partner.

• Intimate partner violence is primarily a crime against women. In 2001, women accounted for 85 percent of the victims of intimate partner violence (588,490 total) while men accounted for approximately 15 percent of the victims (103,220).

• While women are less likely than men to be victims of violent crimes overall, women are five to eight times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner. (Source: http://endabuse.org/resources/facts/).

These statistics show that abusive behavior against the very individuals who should be receiving the most love, concern and respect is stunningly common. Intimacy is plagued with love-hate relationships. Statistics on child abuse only add to this bleak picture of our inability to show even this most basic level of self-discipline.