U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Selected Findings
September 2009, NCJ 228356
Shannan Catalano, Ph.D., Erica Smith,
Howard Snyder, Ph.D., and Michael Rand
BJS Statisticians
This report provides the current findings on nonfatal and fatal violent crimes committed
against females. Data are from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victim-
ization Survey (NCVS), 1993 to 2008, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI)
Uniform Crime Reporting Program's (UCR) Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR),
1993 to 2007 (the most recent data available). The report focuses on nonfatal intimate
partner violence (IPV), fatal IPV, rape and sexual assault, and stalking. It includes esti-
mates of the extent of crimes against females and the characteristics of crimes and vic-
tims. Crime trends are also presented, along with comparative estimates of crimes
against males.
Nonfatal intimate partner violence
• Intimate partner violence includes victimization committed by spouses or ex-
spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends, and ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends.
• In 2008 females age 12 or older experienced about 552,000 nonfatal violent victim-
izations (rape/sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated or simple assault) by an inti-
mate partner (a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend) (table 1).
• In the same year, men experienced 101,000 nonfatal violent victimizations by an inti-
mate partner.
• The rate of intimate partner victimizations for females was 4.3 victimizations per
1,000 females age 12 or older. The equivalent rate of intimate partner violence
against males was 0.8 victimizations per 1,000 males age 12 or older.
Female Victims of Violence
Table 1. Violence by intimate partners, by type of crime and gender of the victims, 2008
Total Female Male
Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate
Overall violent crime 652,660 2.6 551,590 4.3 101,050 0.8
Rape/sexual assault 44,000 0.2 35,690 0.3^ 8,310 0.1^
Robbery 38,820 0.2^ 38,820 0.3^ -- --
Aggravated assault 111,530 0.4 70,550 0.5 40,970 0.3^
Simple assault 458,310 1.8 406,530 3.1 51,770 0.4
Note: Victimization rates are per 1,000 persons age 12 or older. The difference in male and female
intimate partner victimization rates is significant at the 95% confidence level for overall violent
crime, robbery, and simple assault. There is no significant difference in the rate of male and female
intimate partner victimization for aggravated assault.
^Based on 10 or fewer sample cases.
--No cases were present for this category.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2008.
Revised 10/23/09