Who is Affected?

While anyone can experience abuse from an intimate partner, factors such as racism, discrimination, immigration status, and poverty can make it more difficult for women of color to find help or even ask for help. Some of those factors can include: 

• Cultural or religious beliefs that restrain the survivor from leaving the abusive relationship or involving outsiders
• Strong loyalty binds to race, culture, and family
• Distrust of law enforcement, criminal justice system, and social services

Find out more: 

Women of Color Network's Domestic Violence Publication

Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence's Stats

NCADV's Fact Sheet, "Domestic Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women"

People that abuse may use their partner's immigration status as a way to exert power and control over them. Some examples of this might be: 

• Isolation: Someone that abuses may prevent their partner from learning English, communicating with friends, or others from their home countries. 48% of Latina women who had experienced abuse said the abuse increased when they came to the United States.
• Threats: Someone that abuses may threaten to call ICE on their partner or to withdraw petitions for legal status as a way to maintain power and control.
• Intimidation: Someone that abuses may destroy legal documents needed such as passports, legal permanent resident (green) cards, or driver's licenses

Find Out More: 

National Domestic Violence Hotline's "Immigrants in the U.S. have the right to live life free of abuse"

Futures Without Violence's "The Facts on Immigrant Women and Domestic Violence"

Casa De Esperanza's Immigrant Right Rights page

People in the LGBTQ+ Community exprience domestic violence at the same rate or even higher than their straight  and cisgender counterparts. Abusers may use some of the same tactics that are used in heterosexual relationships but they can also take advantage of homophobia and transphobia to abuse their partners. Some examples of this can include: 

• Threatening to out their partner against their will
• Using hurt slurs associated with being gay, bi, or gender expansive
• Using physical abuse on body parts associated with gender, such as hair, breasts, and genitals
• Damaging property associated with gender, such as binders, wigs, makeup, or clothes

Find out more: 

PrideLink, Safe Harbor, and the Julie Valentine Center's Webinar: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Resources

National Domestic Violence Hotline's page on LGBTQ+ Relationship Violence

NCADV's blog post "Domestic Violence and the LGBTQ Community"

Women Against Abuse's page on LGBTQ+ Relationships

NCADV's "Who is Doing What to Whom?" Fact Sheet

Anyone can experience intimate partner abuse, but people with disabilities are more likely to experience abuse than people without disabililties. People that abuse take advantage of the barriers people with disabilities face and use them to abuse. Some examples of this are: 

• Taking their partner's Social Security Disability check
• Using hurtful words relating to their disability to shame their partner
• Invalidate their partner's disability by saying things such as "it's all in your head" or "you're faking it"

Find out more:

National Domestic Violence Hotline's page about Domestic Violence and People with Disabilities

While women are typically the ones who are being abused and men are typically the ones who are doing the abusing, there are men who face abuse from their intimate partner. In fact, 1 in 4 men have been phsyically abused by an intimate partner and 1 in 7 men have been severely physically abused by their intimate partner at some point in their lifetime. Men who are abused by their intimate partner often feel that they cannot seek help because of the stigma associated with being a man and men that are abused. 

Find out more: 

NCADV's "Male Victims of Intimate Partner Violence" Fact Sheet

NCADV's "Who is Doing What to Whom?" Fact Sheet

• 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men in the U.S. report experiencing physical abuse from a spouse or intimate partner.

• S.C. ranks 5th in the U.S. for women killed by men. Since 1996 when the Violence Policy Center has kept the statistics of the deadliest states for women, South Carolina has always been in the top ten deadliest states. We have even been #1 several times as recently as 2015.

• Greenville County often has the highest # of reported DV incidents in SC annually.

• The rate of African American women murdered by men is more than twice that of white women.

• 1 in 3 teens report knowing a friend or peer who has been physically abused by a partner.

• Women of color and immigrant women often face additional barriers, such as discrimination or fear of deportation, making it more difficult to seek help.

Find out more: 

Domestic Violence Statistics from NCADV

Domestic Violence Statistics from the National Domestic Violence Hotline

CDC's Intimate Partner Violence Page

After reading about how discrimination and racism intersect with domestic violence you may be wondering what you can do about it. Though the issues discussed on our  "Who is Affected" page are complex and there are no quick fixes to them, there are many resources that can help you figure out how you can be a part of the solution.

Learn more and donate

• "Understanding and Dismantling Racism" for white readers from Charis Books
• "75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice" from Medium
• "How to be an Advocate Without Perpetuating the White Savior Complex" by No White Saviors
• Ujima Community, National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community
• Speaking Down Barriers
• Black Lives Matter
• Greenville Black Lives Matter Chapter
• Colorlines