HealthMore than 1 million women seek medical assistance for injuries caused by battering each year. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1991)
Only 8% of women discussed being abused with their physicians, while another 38% discussed the incidents with someone other than their physician, leaving more than 50% of the women who have been physically abused discussing it with no one. ("The Health of American Women" conducted by the Commonwealth Fund Fieldwork: February - March, 1993)
Abused women are more likely to seek help from their physicians than from lawyers or police officers. (Mehta and Dandrea, 1988)
Battering is the major cause injury to women, resulting in more injuries to women than auto accidents, muggings and rapes combined. ("Violence Among Intimates, An Epidemiological Review," E.Stark and A.Flitcraft, Handbook of Family Violence, Ed. V.D. Van Hasselt, et.al., 1988)
Many of the stats in this section come from the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women.
National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women
125 S. 9th Street
Suite 302
Philadelphia, PA 19107