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Workplaces Respond to Domestic & Sexual Violence

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Consider the following facts:

  • According to a 2006 study from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly one in four large private industry establishments (with more than 1,000 employees) reported at least one incidence of domestic violence, including threats and assaults, in the past year.1
  • A 2005 phone survey of 1,200 full-time American employees found that 44 percent of full-time employed adults personally experienced domestic violence’s effect in their workplaces, and 21 percent identified themselves as victims of intimate partner violence.2
  • On average, four to five women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends each day in the United States3 and women experience two million injuries from intimate partner violence each year.4
  • The United States Department of Justice estimates that eight percent of rapes occur while the victim is working.5

Effective workplace responses to domestic and sexual violence and stalking depend on knowledge about how these forms of violence are defined and how they impact victims/survivors and the workplace. Use this section to:

  • Learn the Facts about violence and the workplace and its enormous impact on individuals, workplace safety, and productivity.
  • See promising guidelines for employer responses in a Model Workplace Policy.
  • Read about President Obama's order directing federal agencies to develop and implement workplace policies addressing domestic violence.
  • Use the Protection Order Guide to find out about the roles and responsibilities of employers with respect to court orders to protect violence victims or the workplace.
  1. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2006. Survey of Workplace Violence Prevention, 2005. Washington, DC. Available at: http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osnr0026.pdf
  2. CAEPV National Benchmark Telephone Survey. 2005. Bloomington, IL: Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence. Available at: http://www.caepv.org/getinfo/facts_stats.php?factsec=3
  3. Catalano, S., Smith, E., Snyder, H., Rand, M. 2009. Female Victims of Violence. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Available at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/fvv.pdf
  4. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2008. Adverse Health Conditions and Health Risk Behaviors Associated with Intimate Partner Violence. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 57(05) 113-117. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5705a1.htm
  5. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Violence Against Women: Estimates from the Redesigned Survey 3 (1995) (Table 5).

Partner Organizations Futures Without Violence (formerly Family Violence Prevention Fund), Legal Momentum, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and its National Sexual Violence Resource Center, National Sexual Assault Coalition Resource Sharing Project (RSP) of the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence, Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, Victim Rights Law Center, and Stalking Resource Center: A Program of The National Center for Victims of Crime.

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Funding by US Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women

This project was supported by Grant No. 2009-TA-AX-K028 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed on this site or in any materials on this site, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.