Violence against women and trans people is worse than previously thought, according to new research released Wednesday from Tulane University and University of California, San Diego.
Nearly two-thirds of women have experienced abuse from a spouse or romantic partner, known as intimate partner violence or domestic violence. Sixty-eight percent reported experiences of sexual violence, including verbal or online harassment, forced sex or physically aggressive sexual harassment, according to the research report.
Anita Raj, executive director of the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University and co-leader of the research, said this is one of the most expansive assessments on violence in the United States. It is the first national view from the Violence Experiences Survey, which had previously done state-level surveys for California, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
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“Many people bucket violence. They think in terms of community violence, family violence, domestic violence and sexual violence — not understanding that these are issues that intersect,” Raj said.
The numbers are even higher for trans and gender-nonconforming people: 84 percent reported experiencing intimate partner violence in their lifetimes and 85 percent said they experienced sexual violence, according to the research.
NORC at the University of Chicago, a research organization, administered the survey among a nationally representative sample of 2,720 Americans last fall. The data builds on previous studies from the Centers for Disease Control, which has historically run the largest surveys on domestic violence, sexual violence and injury. The new United States Violence Experiences Survey, however, includes questions about other common forms of violence, like controlling or coercive behavior, not usually represented in federal studies. These insights, coupled with questions about violence seen or experienced growing up, give a broader picture of what violence looks like in America today — and what is needed to actually stop it.
The data released on Wednesday makes the case for more funding for prevention efforts, education in schools and support services, as gender-based violence is more pervasive than previously measured. But federal funding cuts have reduced services across the nation.
President Donald Trump’s executive order defining only two genders had a chilling effect, and grants earmarked for LGBTQ+ survivors weren’t released last year. However, the need for trans-specific domestic violence services is vast and has continued to grow as organizations across the country have scrubbed resources from their sites to comply with new funding requirements from the Department of Justice, even though those have been paused by courts.
The reorganization of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alongside cuts initiated by Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, during his four months of government work, gutted the federal government’s violence prevention arm last year.
Advocates have told The 19th that violence prevention is one of the most underfunded aspects of the movement to end gender-based violence, and is often the first program to be eliminated when budgets tighten.
Raj said many people look to law enforcement as a primary solution, but she argued that’s not adequate.
“Most people don’t turn to the criminal justice system when these things happen,” Raj said. “You can’t have a criminal justice response for 50 percent of the population — that’s not going to work. We need to be building community responses. Economic responses are really key.”
She urged people to support their local legislators to fund prevention work.
While the findings of the research are “horrible,” Raj said, she underscored that most people are not abusive. Only 9 percent of Americans said they perpetrated sexual or intimate partner violence (14 percent of men and 5 percent of women), though self-reporting is an imperfect measure. The study showed those who experienced sexual or physical violence themselves were more likely to commit it, highlighting again the necessity of prevention efforts.
Raj said it would be valuable to uplift the vast majority of men who are not violent.
“I think that there are a lot of good people out there,” Raj said, “and we need to be raising those voices higher.”
Domestic violence services remain operational across the country. Confidential, anonymous help is available 24/7 through the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (1-800-799-7233) or online. The Network/La Red (617-742-4911) runs a confidential, anonymous 24/7 domestic violence crisis line specifically for LGBTQ+ people.
