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The Abuse Index: Who's Throwing Stuff and Who's Getting Hit By Sara Vigneri
Men's Health (USA/Canada) May 2000
Vol 15, Issue 4, p150, 3/4p, 1bw

When it comes to real random acts of violence - for example, murder and rape - it's men who are often guilty as charged. Only 12.6 percent of murders last year were committed by women, often to settle some personal score against somebody they knew well. But when it comes to assault - kid whacking, spouse hitting - women are more likely to be the bad guys. The media and the Ad Council may have helped create the myth of the malevolent male, but this is how the hitters really stack up.

First Punch
% of the time that wives admitted to hitting first: 53
- Physical Assaults by Wives, 1993

Going for the Knife
% of women knifed by their spouse or partner: 4.1
% of men knifed by their spouse or partner: 11
- The Risk of Serious Physical Injury from Assault by a Woman Intimate, 1999

Losing It
Number of wives/husbands who hit or tried to hit their spouse with something:
30 wives per 1,000
17 husbands per 1,000
- National Family Violence Survey, 1985

Totally Losing It
Number of wives/husbands who engaged in severe violence against their spouse:
46 wives per 1,000
30 husbands per 1,000
- National Family Violence Survey, 1985

Coed Violence
% of college women who admitted to initiating violence against their boyfriend: 32
% who said it was because their boyfriend wasn't sensitive to their needs: 46
% who said it was because their boyfriend wasn't listening: 43
- College Women Who Initiate Assaults on Their Male Partners and the Reasons Offered for Such Behavior, 1997

Retaliation
% of women who hit back when hit by their partner: 24
% of men who hit back when hit by their partner: 15
- National Family Violence Survey, 1985

Kid Abuse
% of all child abuse committed by mothers: 61
% of all child abuse committed by fathers: 38
- Child Maltreatment 1995: Reports from the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System

Termination of Childhood
% of murdered kids killed by their mothers: 55
- Murder in Families 1994, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Blind Justice
In a survey of 6,002 people,
% of incidents in which women were arrested after their husbands called the police: 0
% of incidents in which men were arrested after their wives called the police: 15
% of incidents in which men were arrested after they called the police: 12
- National Family Violence Survey, 1985

Domestic Homicide
% of female murderers who killed an intimate or family member: 60
% of male murderers who killed an intimate or family member: 20
- Women Offenders 1999, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Sentencing Stats
% of women receiving prison sentences for murdering their spouse: 81
% of men receiving prison sentences: 94
- Spouse Murder Defendants in Large Urban Counties 1995, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Prison Terms
Length of prison sentences given to women convicted of spousal abuse compared to those given to men: 10 years shorter
- Spouse Murder Defendants in Large Urban Counties 1995, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Dumb Justice
% of women acquitted by a jury in a spouse murder trial: 27
% of men acquitted: 0
- Spouse Murder Defendants in Large Urban Counties 1995, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Calls from the Brach
% of women acquitted by a judge in a spouse murder trial: 37
% of men acquitted: 17
- Spouse Murder Defendants in Large Urban Counties 1995, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Capital Punishment
% of all domestic homicides committed by women: 33
% of all the inmates on Death Row who are women: 1
- Capital Punishment 1998, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Women on Women 1
Number of violent crimes committed by women each year in the United States: 2.1 million
% that are simple assaults on other women: 75
- Women Offenders 1999, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Women on Women II
% of lesbians abused by their current or most recent partners: 40
% of gay men abused by their current or most recent partners: 18
- Lesbians in Currently Aggressive Relationships: How Frequently Do They Report Aggressive Past Relationships? 1991

Instinct to Swing
During one survey of corporal punishment of children, % of mothers who hit their child during the interview: 6.2
- Corporal Punishment by Mothers and Child's Cognitive Development, 1998

- Compiled by Sara Vigneri