Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault

• Vision
• Domestic Violence
• National data
• State data
• Local data
• Children and domestic violence
• Teen dating violence
• Elder abuse
• Service system
• Sexual Assault
• Best Practices Index
• Resources
• Footnotes

Vision

United Way of King County envisions a community that proactively works to end domestic violence and sexual assault, promotes safety for all residents, and supports people who have been victimized and/or affected.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence refers to a pattern of power and control where one family member, intimate partner or ex-partner physically or psychologically dominates another. Domestic violence includes physical, sexual, emotional and psychological actions or threats of actions. It includes behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, or injure someone. There is no universal definition of domestic violence utilized across the data, but it is important to make a distinction between domestic violence and intimate partner violence. These are two common definitions that are used in collecting and reporting data and they measure different things.

• Domestic Violence: A pattern of power and control between any two individuals who have or have had any of the following relationships: spousal, familial, dating, platonic cohabitating, or child in common . Domestic violence will be the umbrella term used throughout this section.^[1]
• Intimate Partner Violence: A pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors, including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, as well as economic coercion and stalking, that adults or adolescents use against their intimate partners.^[2]

National Figures on Domestic Violence:

• Based on National Violence Against Women Survey data, an estimated 5.3 million Intimate Partner Violence victimizations occur among U.S. women ages 18 and older each year.^[3]
• Nationally, domestic violence is the single most frequent cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44.

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Domestic Violence within Washington State:

Download Data | Source: Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, Crime in Washington 2009

• Statewide in 2009, there were 48,186 domestic violence incidences reported to Sheriff or Police Departments, a 13.4% increase from 2008.^[4]
• In 2009, there were 11,150 reported violations of protection/no-contact orders.^[5]
• Of all the 2009 assaults occurring in WA State, 48.6% were domestic violence offenses.^[6]
• In 2009 there were 22 murders by a current or former boyfriend or husband.^[7]
• In 2009, there were 975 aggravated assaults classified as domestic violence offenses in King County.

Download Data | Source: Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2009 Fatality Review Project.

Note: The number of homicides in 2009 for King County as reported by the WSCADV (9) differs from law enforcement reports (16). This is most likely due to different definitions utilized in data gathering. WSCADV looks at intimate partner violence (between two people in an intimate partnership), whereas law enforcement use a definition inclusive of all domestic relationships (parent/child, siblings, spouses, cohabitants, etc).^[8]
Read the definition of relationship

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Local Picture of Domestic Violence:

There are no accurate data describing incidence of domestic violence for King County; however, the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs collects reported data.

The number of known domestic violence-related crimes is outlined below.

Source: Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Crime in Washington, 2009

Download Data | Source: Communities Count, 2008 Social and Health Indicators Across King County

Data from the 2005 & 2008 Communities Counts report indicate the following:^[9]

• Between 1999 and 2003, Seattle had the highest rate of major domestic violence crimes (126.7 per 100,000) including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; the East region had the lowest rate (25.0 per 100,000).
• Currently, Seattle has the highest incidence of domestic violence at 115  incidences per 100,000 people and East King County has the lowest at 25 per 100,000 people.
• For 1999-2003 King County averaged 78.4 incidences of domestic violence per 100,000 people. By 2008, the rate had fallen to 72 incidences of domestic violence per 100,000 people.

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Children and Domestic Violence

Children who witness domestic violence have become a subject of research and unique community-based recovery programs. Read more . . .

Teen Dating Violence

Teen dating violence is defined and measured differently in King County by various studies. Local programs offer teens outreach, training, prevention and support groups. Read more . . .

Elder Abuse

Elder abuse including neglect, as documented by the Department of Health and Social Services, appears to be increasing. Read more . . .

Service System for Victims and Survivors of Domestic Violence

There is increasing pressure on the various service systems to help victims and survivors of domestic violence in more specific and efficient ways--pressure originating from the growing racial and ethnic diversity, economic hardships and instability, and funding difficulties experienced throughout Washington State and King County. Current service delivery needs for victims include:

• Access to transitional housing, more shelters and beds, and affordable post-shelter housing options
• Legal assistance and representation
• Culturally competent, culturally specific and linguistically appropriate services, and
• Services for children who witness domestic violence (see Domestic Violence and Children section).

Read more about the service system for victims and survivors

Read more about the issues in providing services to victims of domestic violence

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Sexual Assault

Nearly forty percent of women in WA state report they were sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime. Read more about sexual assault and sexual assault services

Best Practices

Go to the index to best and promising practices

Resources

Footnotes