. The most common forms of intimate violence are rape, attempted rape, or some form of sexual assault. Such assaults may occur both within marriage and outside of it (McCaghy, et al. 207). Additional relationship violence may occur as a threat of family violence; "normal" violence, wherein the parties agree that the victim "asked for it"; secondary violence, or concern over violence against a third party such as a child; protective violence, whereby a victim of violence (an abused wife) attacks the attacker (an abusive husband); volcanic violence, which "provides a tension release from outside pressures; alcohol-relate violence, and sexual violence, as previously noted (206-7).
Females are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence, although protective-violence cases seem to place women in the position of perpetrator (206). According to the 2000 NVAW survey, only 20% of intimate rapes, 25% of all physical assaults, and 50% of stalkings perpetrated against females get reported, and the numbers go down when males are victims. Those targeted as victims respondents by intimates were reported to the police. Even fewer rapes, physical assaults, and stalkings perpetrated against male respondents by intimates were reported. The majority of victims who did not report their victimization to the police thought the police would not or could not do anything on their behalf. These findings suggest that most victims of intimate partner violence do not consider the justice system an appropriate vehicle for resolving conflicts with intimates (Tjaden and Thoeness 3). The same survey published figures showing that over a lifetime, intimate violence against females and males breaks down as follows: 7.7% of women, 0.3% of men for rape; 22.1% of women, 7.4% of men for physical assault; 24.8% of women, 7.6% of men for physical assault and rape; 4.8% of women, 0.6% of men for stalking, for a total of 25.5% of women and 7.9% of men (Tjaden and ...