Zonta Club of Charleston

The Zonta Club of Charleston has chosen to focus on the prevention of violence against women and girls because DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS A CRIME.

Statistics are alarming!

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence:

- One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.

- An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year.

- 85% of domestic violence victims are women.

- Historically, females have been most often victimized by someone they knew.

- Females who are 20-24 years of age are at the greatest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence.

- In 2000, 1,247 women and 440 men were killed by an intimate partner. In recent years, an intimate partner killed approximately 33% of female murder victims and 4% of male murder victims.

- Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police.

Children Who Witness

-Witnessing violence between one’s parents or caretakers is the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next.

-Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults.

-30% to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household.

How much does this issue cost our society:

The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services.

Victims of intimate partner violence lost almost 8 million days of paid work because of the violence perpetrated against them by current or former husbands, boyfriends and dates. This loss is the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs and almost 5.6 million days of household productivity as a result of violence.

There are 16,800 homicides and $2.2 million (medically treated) injuries due to intimate partner violence annually, which costs $37 billion.

South Carolina Statistics:

The data for South Carolina is equally distressing, and the numbers indicate that something must be done to decrease the occurrence of these cases and prevent further criminal acts that result from this violence.   South Carolina currently ranks number one nationally in the number of women killed by male intimate partners. In 2004, there were over 35,124 domestic violence cases reported in South Carolina. In 2004, at least 44 women were victims of domestic violence homicides according to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. The majority of domestic assault victims in the state are female (approximately 84 percent) and black (approximately 49 percent).  The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division reports that 65 percent of the domestic assaults were committed by a spouse.  Most domestic assault arrests (69 percent) were for simple assault; while a smaller amount (22 percent) of the arrests was for aggravated assault.  Conversely, domestic violence is responsible for almost 27 percent of all aggravated assault cases in South Carolina.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233

24 hr/7 days