THE HIDDEN STORY OF INTIMATE VIOLENCE   The Scope of Intimate Violence   The World   Every year 40 million children under the age of 15 are victims of family abuse or neglect serious enough to require medical attention. World Health Organization (WHO), 2001   100 to 132 million girls and women have been subjected to female genital mutilation worldwide. Each year, an estimated 2 million more girls undergo this mutilation. United Nations - The World’s Women, 2000   Female infanticide, selective female malnutrition, and medical neglect of girls common in many world regions can be so severe that in India’s Punjab state, girls aged two to four die at nearly twice the rate of boys. United Nations - Human Development Report, 1995   20 percent of women and 5-10 percent of men have suffered sexual abuse as children. World Report on Violence and Health - WHO, 2002   The United States   Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women in the U.S. U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 1993   In the U.S. in 2002: An estimated 896,00 children were determined to be victims of child abuse or neglect An estimated 1,400 children died due to abuse or neglect and three-quarters of these were younger than 4 years old More than 80 percent of perpetrators were parents. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Maltreatment, 2002   In the United States, a rape is reported about every 5 minutes. FBI Uniform Crime Report, 1997   The Economic Cost of Intimate Violence   Child abuse alone costs the United States economy as much as $94 billion a year. Violence Creates Huge Economic Cost for Countries, WHO, 2004   Domestic violence in the United States costs an estimated $67 billion per year, with employers alone losing an estimated $5 billion in absenteeism, lower productivity, higher turnover, and health costs per year. American Institute of Domestic Violence, 2004