Intimate partner violence. (Bulletin Reports).

The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) recently announced that violence rates among intimate partners--current or former spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends--differ greatly according to the victim's age. While the overall per capita rate of nonfatal intimate partner violence against females 12 years of age or older was 5.8 victimizations per 1,000 females in 1999, among females 16 to 24 the rate was 15.6 victimizations per 1,000. Women 16 to 24 years of age wer the most vulnerable to nonfatal intimate violence. Women 35 to 49 were the most vulnerable to murder by an intimate partner.

Trends over the period from 1993 to 1999 show that the rates of intimate partner violence fell for females 20 to 24, 25 to 34, and 35 to 49. Despite some year-to-year fluctuations, rates of violence by intimates against women in other age categories were unchanged from 1993 though 1999.

Black and white women experienced intimate partner violence at similar rates for every age range except 20 to 24. Among that group, 29 violent victimizations per 1,000 black women occurred compared to 20 per 1,000 white women.

Women separated from their husbands were victimized by an intimate partner at rates higher than married, divorced, widowed, or never-married women. A majority of intimate partner violence that occurred between 1993 and 1999 was perpetrated by boyfriends and girlfriends (53 percent), with an additional 33 percent perpetrated by a current spouse.

The special report, Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-1999, (NCJ 187635), was written by BJS statistician Callie Marie Rennison. Copies may be obtained by calling the BJS clearinghouse at 800-732-3277 or accessing the BJS Web site at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs.