ABSTRACT
Intimate partner violence can and does impact women from across the social and financial spectrum, though there are differences in the rates of victimization based on a number of factors. Unfortunately, people often believe that these differences mean that it is rare to see domestic violence among women in certain groups, such as the middle and upper classes, at all. While it is true that certain women are at greater risk, the truth is that intimate partner violence takes place too often even among women at lower risk for abuse. Nobody is immune from the risk of domestic violence: Intimate partner violence affects “individuals at all income levels, ethnicities, nationalities, and belief systems.”1 With that in mind, let’s take a brief look at the research on victimization risk for intimate partner violence, as well as reporting issues associated with these implications.
