What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic violence can be defined generally as "a pattern of assaultive
and/or coercive behaviors including physical, sexual, and emotional
abuse, as well as economic coercion, that adults use against their
intimate partners to gain power and control in that relationship."
Domestic Violence Statistics
Total Annual Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States
| Direct Costs |
Estimated Annual Cost |
Hospitalization
565,000 children were reported as suffering serious harm from abuse in 1993. One of the less severe injuries is a broken or fractured bone. Cost of treating a fracture or dislocation of the radius or ulna per incident is $10,983. |
$6,205,395,00 |
Chronic Health Problems
30% of maltreated children suffer chronic medical problems. The cost of treating a child with asthma per incident in the hospital is $6,410. |
$2,987,957,400 |
Mental Health Care System
743,200 children were abused in 1993. For purposes of obtaining a conservative estimate, neglected children are not included. One of the costs to the mental health care system is counseling. Estimated cost per family for counseling $2860. One in five abused children is estimated to receive these services. |
$2,987,957,400 |
Child Welfare System
The Urban Institute published a paper in 1999 reporting on the results of a study it conducted estimating child welfare costs associated with child abuse and neglect to be 14.4 billion. |
$14,400,000,000 |
Law Enforcement
The National Institute of Justice estimates the following costs of police services for each of the following interventions: child sexual abuse ($56); physical abuse ($20); emotional abuse ($20) and child educational neglect ($2). Cross referenced against DHHS statistics on number of each incidents occuring annually. |
$24,709,800 |
Judicial System
The Dallas Commission on Children and Youth determined the cost per initiated court action for each case of child maltreatment was $1,372.34. Approximately 16% of child abuse victims have court action taken on their behalf. |
$341,174,702 |
| Total Direct Costs |
$24,384,347,302 |
|
Programs and Services 
