Statistics on Domestic Violence in Florida

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Crime Trends – Domestic Violence, the number of domestic violence crimes in Florida has decreased dramatically over the past ten (10) years.

Since 1998, Florida’s population has increased by 43.4%. Despite that increase in population, the number of reported domestic violence offenses has decreased from 133,345 reported in 1998 to 104,914 reported in 2018.

For 2018, FDLE labeled most domestic violence reports as “simple assaults” for reporting purposes. Simple assaults accounted for 84% of the incidents, with the remaining 16% labeled as “aggravated assaults.” In 2018, there were 19 cases of manslaughter and 196 cases of criminal homicide reported to the FDLE.

In 2019, there were 105,298 crimes of domestic violence reported to the FDLE. Those reports of domestic violence resulted in 66,069 arrests.

Beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, incidents of domestic violence increased slightly. In 2020, 106,615 crimes of domestic violence were reported to Florida law enforcement agencies. Those reports in 2020 resulted in 63,217 arrests involving allegations between:

• 20,735 current or former spouses;
• 29,663 co-habitants or former co-habitants; and
• 20,142 individuals who had a child together but were never married and never lived together.

Visit the FDLE website for information from Florida’s Uniform Crime Reports Domestic Violence data collection. From 1992 through 2020, the “UCR Domestic Violence” report includes:

• Domestic Violence by Offense, County, and Victim Relationship
• Statewide Domestic Violence Victim Totals by Offense
• Statewide Domestic Violence Victim Totals by Relationship
• Reported Domestic Violence Offenses by Type of Offense
• Total Reported Domestic Violence Offenses by County
• Reported Domestic Violence by Florida Jurisdiction
• Domestic Violence Offenses by Year
• Reported Domestic Violence by Florida Jurisdiction

Read more about finding an attorney for domestic violence crimes in Florida.

National Studies and Statistics on Domestic Violence

The World Health Organization (WHO), working on behalf of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence Against Women Estimation and Data, published an article entitled “Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018: Executive Summary.” The study found that based on data from 2000 to 2018, approximately 26% of women and 27% of men have been subjected to physical or sexual violence from a current or former husband or male intimate partner at least once in their lifetime. The study estimated that approximately 641 to 753 million people were victims of domestic violence during that time.

In November 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a study called “The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 Data Brief – Updated Release.” The study estimated that 1 in 4 women and nearly 1 in 10 men had experienced domestic violence acts, including sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking, in their lifetime. Id. at p. 7. The study found that approximately 43 million women and 37 million men have been victims of such domestic violence by intimate partners throughout their lifetime.

Across the United States, the cost of medical and mental health care services related to domestic violence is estimated to be over $8 billion per year. See Huecker, M., King, K., & others, Domestic Violence. National Center for Biotechnology Information, Aug. 26, 2021.

This article was last updated on Friday, July 5, 2024.