·         Injuries suffered by battered women are at least as serious as injuries suffered in 90% of violent felony crimes, yet under state laws, they are almost always classified as misdemeanors. ⁽Zorza, Joan (1989) “The Gender Bias Committee’s Domestic Violence Study”).

·         According to statistics from the American Medical Association, battered women account for:

- 22% to 35% of women seeking emergency service;

- 14% of women examined in ambulatory-care internal medicine clinics;

- 25% of all women who attempt suicide;

- 23% of women seeking psychiatric emergency service;

- 58% of women over age 30 who have been raped; and

- 45% to 59% of mothers of abused children.

Statistics courtesy of the AMA. Source: Ohio State Medical Association (1993) Ohio Physicians’ Domestic Violence Prevention Project: Trust Talk.

·         Health insurance benefits spent on domestic violence related injuries are estimated at $2.5 billion annually. (Governor’s Task Force on Family Violence, 1991).

·         Each year, the health care cost resulting from domestic violence is an estimated 5 to 10 billion dollars. (Celia, Richard; 1987).

·         Approximately 37% of obstetric patients of every race, class and educational background report being physically abused while pregnant. (Council on Scientific Affairs, AMA (June 17,1992). “Violence Against Women”, Journal of the American Medical Association).