Gender Equality
  • 5.1.1 Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non‑discrimination on the basis of sex
  • 5.1.2 Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earning
  • 5.2.1 Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age
  • 5.2.2 Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence
  • 5.3.1 Proportion of women aged 20–24 years who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18
  • 5.3.2 Proportion of girls and women aged 15–49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, by age
  • 5.4.1 Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location
  • 5.5.1 Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
  • 5.5.2 Proportion of women in managerial positions
  • 5.6.1 Proportion of women aged 15–49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care
  • 5.6.2 Number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee full and equal access to women and men aged 15 years and older to sexual and reproductive health care, information and education
  • 5.a.1 (a) Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure
  • 5.a.2 Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control
  • 5.b.1 Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex
  • 5.c.1 Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment

    • 5.2.1 Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age

     

    Domestic Violence Reporting

    According to the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, domestic violence rates increased by 25-33% globally in 2020, which has been attributed to the increased social, psychological, and economic pressures caused by COVID-19. In the United States, domestic violence has increased 8.1% during the pandemic. This follows a general trend of increasing domestic violence rates over the past 5 years, as intimate partner violence victimizations in the United States increased by 42% between 2016 and 2018.  Looking back 10 plus years, Prior to 2016, rates of domestic violence had been decreasing in the United States and were down 64% from 1994 numbers in 2015. Between 2003 and 2012, 21% of all violent crimes were domestic violence related, with 76% of the victims being female. Presently, it is estimated by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence that 10 million people experience domestic violence per year, or 1 person every 20 minutes. As of 2022, domestic violence statistics for the DMV are as follows: In DC, 40% of women and 25% of men experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. In Maryland, 34.4% of women and 28.8% of men will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes, in Virginia the percentage is 31% of women and 22% of men.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention group the factors that influence domestic violence into four categories: individual, relationship, community, and societal. At the individual level, low self-esteem, limited access to education, economic instability, patterns of anger, hostility, or lack of nonviolent response mechanisms, beliefs in strict gender roles, depression/anxiety, or substance abuse can all influence domestic violence occurrences. Expanding into the relationship category, witnessing violence in childhood, experiencing jealousy or possessiveness, exerting dominance or control over a partner in a relationship, and having a history of experiencing physical discipline as a child or poor parenting also increases the likelihood of domestic violence within a relationship. At the community level, high rates of poverty, limited educational and economic resources, high unemployment, increased crime rates, and easy access to drugs and alcohol influence domestic violence rates. Societally, traditional gender norms, cultural norms that support aggression towards others, income inequality, and social, economic, educational, and work health policies all influence both the social acceptance of domestic violence and its likelihood. In all of these categories, economic stress and stability , exposure to violence, and beliefs regarding gender roles are common themes that are related to increased domestic violence rates.

    Reporting domestic violence can be difficult and inconsistent depending on methods used by law enforcement and the likelihood of victims to report their abuse. Domestic Violence may go unreported due to fear of retaliation from the abuser, fear of uncertainty, custody issues, financial instability and risk, fear of judgment, confusion on reporting mechanisms, and high legal fees among other factors. According to the federal report Police Response to Domestic Violence, 2006-2015, 716,000 reports of non-fatal domestic violence were reported on average, but an approximate 582,000 incidents went unreported. In terms of reporting methods, 56% of these incidents were reported to the police through various methods (formal police report, written complaint by victim, or official arrest/prosecution of abuser). This report indicates that 78% of the time, a formal police report was the primary method of recording an incident of domestic violence, while written complaints took place 48% of the time, and arrests occurred in 39% of incidents reported. Based on this data, it is clear that the most domestic violence reports are through formal police reporting, and therefore may be the most accurate form of data collection. However, police reporting is often limited to an agency by agency basis, with no overarching guidelines to ensure consistency across states. As one article in US News and World Report discusses, inconsistency in police domestic violence units cause gaps in local, state, and federal domestic violence statistics. At this time there is no nationwide/federal guideline for reporting domestic violence, defining specific guidelines for defining domestic violence, or framework to ensure consistency throughout state/local agencies. As a result, this makes all forms of domestic violence reporting difficult and less accurate due to data gaps at all levels of government.