FBI Report: Violence Against Women in America

"Three to four million American women are beaten each year by their present or former intimate partners. In fact, battery is the single greatest cause of serious injury to women - more than auto accidents, rapes, and muggings combined. Because domestic violence happens behind closed doors, many women who are beaten by their husbands or dates suffer in silence, sometimes for years, before seeking counseling or legal assistance."

"More than a million women are stalked in the United States every year. According to the FBI, more than 90 percent of women who were killed by a husband or boyfriend in 1991 were stalked beforehand."

"The FBI estimates that one rape is committed in this country every six minutes. And because so many rapes go unreported, many officials believe the true rate in the United States is at least twice this official rape count. The 1990 National Crime Survey estimates that of the known rapes, 58 percent were committed by someone the victim knew, including a spouse or boyfriend, and 35 percent took place in the victim's own home."