Facts and Findings
Recent estimates suggest that spouse abuse in the military declined from 29.1 per 1000 in 1998 to 24.6 per 1000 in 2003.-FY98-04, Family Advocacy Program, Department of Defense, 2005.
~ In FY 2003, 17,000 reported cases of spouse abuse occured involving military personnel. Ninety-eight hundred were substantiated, rate of substantiated aggression of 14.2 per 1000.-FY98-04, Spouse & Child Maltreatment, Family Advocacy Program, Department of Defense, 2005.
~ The predominant type of substantiated spouse abuse is physical abuse. Eighty-five percent of the abuse is physical abuse.-Final Report on Spouse Abuse in the US Armed Forces, Caliber Associates, 1996.
~The severity of nonmutual abuse increased from about 8% in 1999 to 13% in 2002 in the US Army. Female victims accounted for 78.5% of the severe nonmutual abuse cases and 58% of the severe mutual abuse cases.-Patterns of mutual and nonmutual spouse abuse in the US Army (1998-2002), Violence and Victims, 2004.
~It is apparent that relatively few military personnel are prosecuted or administratively sanctioned on charges stemijng from domestic violence.-Initial Report, Department of Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence, 2001.
~Commander discretion plays a major role in determining the extent of impact, as well as servicemembers performance and amenability to treatment.-A Considerable Service, Domestic Violence Report, 2001.
~Less than seven percent of spouse abuse cases are adjudicated by court-marital.-Symposium on DV Prevention Research, Department of Defense, 2002.
~Rates of marital aggression are considerably higher than civilian rates, double, three to five times.-The War At Home, 60 Minutes, January 17, 1999; Heyman and Neidig. (1999). A comparison of spousal agression prevalence rates in U.S. Army and civilian representative samples. Journal of Consulting and Clinicial Psychology, 67 (2), 239-242; Rosen, Brennan, Martin, and Knudson. (August 2002). Intimate Partner Violence and US Army Soldiers in Alaska, Military Medicine; The War At Home, 60 Minutes, September 1, 2002.
~Firearms were used against 35% percent of female victims. Twenty-eight percent of female victims were beaten or strangled. Females were over 10 times more likely than males to be strangeled.-Homicide victims in the military (1980-1992), Military Medicine, 1995.
Recent estimates suggest that sexual assault in the military is experienced by three percent of female servicemembers, according to a recent survey released by the Department of Defense.-Armed Forces 2002 Sexual Harassment Survey, 2004. An earlier study conducted by the Defense Manpower Center indicated that 6 percent of female respondents and 1 percent of male respondents were victims of actual or attempted rape.-Department of Defense Sexual Harassment Survey, 1995.
~The prevalence of adult sexual assault among female veterans has been estimated as high as 41%.-Prevalence of physical and sexual abuse in women veterans, Military Medicine, 1996; Factors associated with women's risk of rape in the military, Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2003; and Prevalence of military sexual assault, Interpersonal Violence, 2000.
~Thirty-seven percent of women who reported a rape or attempted rape had been raped more than once; fourteen percent of the victims reported having been gang raped.-Factors associated with women's risk of rape in the military, Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2003.