This comprehensive review of the literature reports on the annual and lifetime prevalence of domestic violence against women in the United States. Data on population-based samples, pregnant women, and women treated in emergency rooms are each presented separately, as are the effects of age, marital status, socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, and alcohol and drug use. Prevalence reports vary across studies, due in part to definitional issues and differences in the populations studied, but this is primarily true for lifetime and not for current prevalence. Prevalence is 0.3% to 4% for severe violence and 8% to 17% for total violence in the past year. Lifetime occurrence is 9% for severe violence and 8% to 22% for total violence. When minor as well as severe acts of physical violence toward women in the general female population are included, prevalence appears to be between 10% and 15% and somewhat higher for some subgroups.

Domestic violence has been widely recognized as a serious public health problem in recent years, but reports present widely ranging estimates of its prevalence. This review was undertaken to provide a better estimate of the prevalence of domestic violence in the US population as a whole and in various subpopulations, as well as to describe the characteristics of individuals who experience domestic violence. This information will help us assess the magnitude of the problem and determine where public health efforts should be directed. For this review, domestic violence was defined as acts of physical violence per-