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Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Data Collection Project
Department of Human Services

This IPV ProjectIntimate Partner Violence Project. information provided by the Injury & Violence Prevention Program of the Office of Disease Prevention & Epidemiology. Intimate Partner Violence in Oregon

Findings from the Oregon Women's Health and Safety Survey

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health problem that occurs within all social, economic, religious, and cultural groups1.

Survey Findings
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Complete Report
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Email lee.anna.bennett-ashworth@state.or.us to request a copy of the survey instrument.
Women's overall risk of IPV is three times higher than men?s risk, but this ratio becomes even more pronounced as the severity of the assault increases, with female victims far more likely to be seriously injured or killed. For example, women are about 2 to 3 times more likely than men to report that their partner pushed or shoved them, but 7 to 14 times more likely to report being beat up, choked, or threatened with a gun or knife2.


Furthermore, the rate of intimate partner homicide is four times higher for Oregon women than for Oregon men3. Because women experience more IPV and more IPV-related injuries and deaths, we conducted a special survey with Oregon women, the Oregon Women's Health and Safety Survey, to learn more about their experiences of violence, summarized below.

Executive Summary

IPV is pervasive in Oregon.
  • One in ten Oregon women age 20-55 experienced physical and/or sexual assaultby an intimate partner (the survey definition of IPV) in the five years preceding the survey?over 85,000 women.

  • Approximately 30,000 women (3%) experienced IPV in the 12 months preceding the survey.



The magnitude of this problem far exceeds many other threats to the health and quality of life of Oregon women.


IPV is associated with a variety of short-term and long-term health problems.
  • In a five-year period, approximately 11,000 women who were physically assaulted and 7,500 women who were sexually assaulted by intimate partners sustained serious injuries, including broken bones, internal injuries, head injuries, and lacerations or knife wounds.

  • Fewer than 2 in 5 seriously injured women received medical care.
  • Among women who did seek medical care, about three quarters of physical assault victims and about half of sexual assault victims told their health care provider that their injuries were the result of IPV.

  • Oregon women whose partners physically or sexually assaulted them were twice as likely to experience chronic depression, three times as likely to have chronic anxiety, and four times as likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder. They were also twice as likely to have considered suicide in the past year.



Although few women with IPV-related injuries sought medical care, it is encouraging that many did disclose the source of their injuries because health care providers are uniquely positioned to refer victims to services. Health care visits for longer-term problems, such as mental healthconditions, also provide clinicians with opportunities to screen women for IPV and to provide important antiviolence messages.


IPV is often a chronic condition that includes multiple types of abuse.
  • Women whose partners were emotionally abusive to them were more likely to report that their partners also physically or sexually assaulted them.

  • Threats of violence were strongly associated with IPV. Women whose partners had threatened them with violence in the past 5 years were more than 40 times more likely to report that their partners also physically or sexually assaulted them during the same time period.

  • Women who experienced IPV averaged 8 physical assaults and 12 sexual assaults over a five-year period.



Threats of violence and emotionally abusive behaviors by intimate partners need to be taken seriously because women who experience these types of abuse are more likely to experience physical and sexual assault, as well. Although IPV can be an isolated incident, for many women, it involves multiple events over time.


Children are affected by IPV.
  • Children witnessed 33% of intimate partner physical assaults and 20% of intimate partner sexual assaults. Many studies indicate that children who witness violence are at risk of developing a wide variety of physical, emotional, and behavioral problems. American Indian women reported a disproportionate amount of IPV.

  • After controlling for other factors, American Indian women were 4 times as likely to report IPV as women of other racial backgrounds.



More information is needed in order to design effective prevention programs, since the broad category "American Indian" obscures differences that may exist between tribes and groups. Many historical, cultural, and environmental factors that may be related to race, but were not measured in this survey, may influence IPV rates and IPV disclosure. It is important that American Indian communities receive resources needed to further explore these complexities, in order to help the community members most affected by IPV.

The criminal justice system is not involved in the majority of IPV cases.
  • Most women who experienced IPV did not report the most recent incident to the police. Common reasons for not reporting IPV to police included the belief that the incident was "too minor" or "not a police matter" and fear of the perpetrator.

  • About one-fourth of physical assault victims and one fifth of sexual assault victims got a restraining order against the intimate partner who assaulted them.
Efforts to lessen the stigma of IPV and to protect women from perpetrators may allow more women to report IPV to police. At present, the low percentage of reports suggests that relying on criminal justice data to measure IPV rates in Oregon will result in a serious undercount.


Because IPV is so prevalent throughout Oregon communities, population-wide health promotion and violence prevention efforts are necessary to address the problem. IPV prevention requires the creation of a social environment that promotes healthy relationships and discourages violence as an acceptable response to conflict. We need to support a coordinated community response to IPV, including system level activities in health care and law enforcement, and prevention activities directed towards people at risk and the entire community. At the relationship and individual levels, we need to increase support services for victims and families, and design and implement appropriate interventions for perpetrators.

1 Krug EG et al., eds. World report on violence and health. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2002.


2 Tjaden P, Thonnes N. Extent, nature, and consequences of intimate partner violence. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 2000; DOJ publication No. NCJ 181867.


3 Intimate Partner Homicide in Oregon, 1997-2001.
Available at http://www.healthorego.org/ipv/iphomicide9701.pdf (pdf) Accessed January 29, 2004.
 
Page updated: September 22, 2007

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