[chance33_98]

The FBI estimates 50 percent of women in the United States will be involved in a violent relationship some time in their lives.

Wonder how they got that number? (Random # generator?)

[Judith Anne]

I don't believe that.

[Larry Lucido]

The headline makes it look like 50% of married women are routinely beaten by their husbands. In fact, it means that half of all women, at some time in their lives, have been involved in a marriage, shackup or dating relationship where at least one incident involved some pushing, shoving or hitting. So voila, a 50% rate of "domestic violence."

BTW, I'm sure a lot of guys out there have been slapped, pushed or shoved by a wife, shackup or date. Maybe even 50%?

[joesnuffy]

A raised voice or cursing at a domestic partner is considered domestic violence as far as arrest and conviction are concerned...
How they "cook the books" on crime...

[Drango]

We can solve this with a commission.

Bill Clinton will head it, and all women will be told to "put some ice on it"

[mlmr]

They get these numbers by defining violence down. Being yelled at is now being abused. More clients for the system.

[Izzy Dunne]

Don't have time to do a detailed study, but I found This PDF DOCUMENT from the FBI, stating that in 1995, there were 58, 538 incidents of "family violence" in 1995 (includes robbery and "intimidation" incidents).
Assuming the U.S. female population is 140,000,000, that's 0.000418, or 0.04 percent.
So, a person stands a 0.04% chance of FV per year.
If she lives for 75 years, that's a collective chance of 3.1 percent (75 * 0.000418).

How do you get from there to "The FBI estimates 50 percent of women in the United States will be involved in a violent relationship some time in their lives."?

Am I missing something?

[altura]

Worse than random number generated ... they found it in an article in Oprah who found it in Mother Jones who found it ....

[Ed_in_NJ]

It's nothing we can't handle with a $50 billion budget and twenty-five rooms full of bureaucrats!

[LadyDoc]

the answer how they got that number is either A) they have exaggerated the real abuse with minor stuff or B) their sample ignores repeat abusees.

We see the same women over and over again. They get rid of one boyfriend and get another just as bad. See the statistic about "37% of women treated for trauma in Emergency rooms have been abused"?

It's probably higher.

If you are a profession "victim", you often take drugs, legal or illegal. So you have more DUI type accidents, both in motor vehicles or in being a klutz and falling or cutting yourself in the kitchen etc.(both legal and illegal tranquillizers slow your reflexes.)

Then too you have to take into account minor stuff. I had a teenaged son throw a cup of coffee at me. So I'd have to say yes to "domestic abuse". The fact he did it once and I had him arrested and only had the charges dropped by having him move out and attend anger management counselling made this a one time problem. But it still would count as "abuse" on the statistics.

[ClearCase_guy]

My understanding is that women hit men more often than men hit women. I also understand that domestic violence is higher in same-sex relationships than in heterosexual relationships -- and is especially high among lesbians.

So, the 50% figure probably indicates that women start it most of the time, and men are victims far more often than perpetrators. But ... that's the opposite of what they want you to believe.

[Drango]

If we include Super Bowl Sunday I bet the number is higher than 50%...

[putupon]

MARTINSBURG - The goal of a recent Shenandoah Women's Center-

Shenandoah Women's Center? This has to be fiction written by some kind of Blair clone; no way is there a medical facility in West Virginia not named after Robert (KKK) Byrd. The Shenandoah Valley isn't even in WVa anyhow, it's 2 valleys to the east.

[ninenot]

Well, that's easy. The article points out: "former husbands, current-and-former-boyfriends."

If you dig a little deeper into the numbers, it's likely that you'll find 'married' abuse is the smallest part of the number--by far.

Boyfriend, former boyfriend, and former husband stuff is the vast majority of the problem.

If you play, you pay.

[cgbg]

There is a woman at work who is subjected to violence on a consistent basis.

She likes boyfriends who are ex-cons and then has children with them.

They don't work for a living so she kicks them out.

They get angry and periodically pay her a visit and beat her up.

Repeat the pattern a few times and you have one woman who is a punching bag.

My question for the statisticians is simply this:

What percent of women with an IQ over 100 have been subjected to physical violence?

[mewzilla]

Well, I just e-mailed them with a request for the source for the fig. I'll let you know if they get back to me.

[lepton]

The FBI estimates 50 percent of women in the United States will be involved in a violent relationship some time in their lives.

Oh, it probably is true. Note how loose "violent" is defined, and how broadly "relationship" is defined - not to mention the qualification of "some time in their lives."

What I wonder is if they are including "violent relationships" where it is the woman conducting the bulk of the "violence".

How many men are involved in a violent relationship at least once in their life?

[Jay D. Dyson]

The FBI estimates 50 percent of women in the United States will be involved in a violent relationship some time in their lives.

Wonder how they got that number? (Random # generator?)

No kidding. Reminds me of the bogus "news" that was released a few years ago that claimed that women were more likely to be assaulted by their husbands during the Superbowl. A few days later, the people behind the prank came forward and stated that they'd done it to show how gullible the media is when it hears a message it wants to hear.

Fifty-percent of all women will be in a violent relationship, eh? I'll bet the "violence" includes "incidents" in which the man actually (*gasp!*) raises his voice...

-Jay

[mewzilla]

Here's a copy of the e-mail I received from Marshall:

Dear Reader: I received your email today inquiring about where I got the FBI statistic for the domestic violence article that I wrote. The statistic is from a report compiled by the West Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. The report is entitled the West Virginia Stop Violence Against Women Plan for the fiscal year for 2001. Within the report you will find the statistic and numerous others as well as the citations for the original sources that were used to obtain the statistics. You can find an online copy of the report at www.wvdcjs.com/publications/vawaplan.pdf or by searching the West Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services website at www.wvdcjs.com. If you have any other questions feel free to email me. Edward Marshall Berkeley County Crime Reporter The Martinsburg Journal Visit The Journal Online http://www.journal-news.net/

I haven't had time to check out his citation yet, so I'm not sure how this is an FBI stat. But I'll give him points for getting back to me with his source.