Intimate Partner Violence

An "intimate" in sociologist lingo is a current or former spouse, a boyfriend, or a girlfriend, same or opposite gender. An intimate by definition is not a relative, friend, co-worker, neighbor, in-law, casual date or a stranger. The latest violence report from the Bureau of Justice has some interesting . . . well, quirks you'll probably never see reported in the MSM.

About 84% of white victims were victimized by white offenders.

About 93% of black victims were victimized by black offenders.

About 96% of females experiencing nonfatal intimate partner violence were victimized by a male and about 3% reported that the offender was another female.

About 82% of males experiencing nonfatal intimate partner violence were victimized by a female and about 16% of males reported that the offender was another male.

A 1994 study reported 2.8 percent of men and 1.4 percent of women identified as gay or lesbian. Estimates from the 1990 census indicate that 1.63 percent of people aged 15 and older nationwide reported themselves as unmarried partners of the householder. HealthyNJ.

Since most personal nonfatal violence is intraracial and the rates seem high among gays and lesbians based on their representation in the general population, what is going to be achieved with hate crime legislation (suggesting that mean words lead to violence against the person), except demonizing white straight men?

The most important thing, however, is that intimate partner nonfatal violence and homicide both are going down. You probably don't hear that on the news either.