What Increases Your Risk

By: Healthwise

While domestic violence can affect men, the large majority (85%) of its victims are women. Domestic violence tends to occur more often in cultures that are male-dominated. On an individual level, men who have narrow ideas about women's roles and social status are more likely to abuse.

While domestic violence occurs among all socioeconomic groups, poverty increases the likelihood it will occur. Poverty can raise the level of stress and conflict within a relationship, which then becomes more prone to violence. Poverty can also make some men feel as though they are powerless and inadequate. This sense of failure may trigger violence toward their partners.

Alcohol abuse also increases the risk of domestic violence. Researchers estimate that in 45% of domestic violence cases, men had been drinking. In 20% of cases, women had been drinking.

Factors that reduce a woman's risk for domestic violence include having a college education, having an income, and being involved in the community. Likewise, women who have support from their parents and other family members tend to have a lower risk of being abused.

Because conflict can trigger domestic violence, abuse often increases when a partner is considering leaving the relationship and the other partner fears losing control. A victim is at increased risk of stalking, attempted murder, and murder after leaving an abusive relationship. In homicides where the killer was identified, about 33% of female murder victims, and 4% of male murder victims, were killed by their intimate partners.