• 17% of women murdered at work are killed by their batterer.
• 60,000 incidents of workplace violence involved intimate partners.
• 74-96% of victims are harassed at work by their batterer.
• 50% of victims missed an average of 3 work days per month due to abuse.
• 30 - 44% of victims lost at least one job due to abuse.
• Domestic violence cost businesses between $3 - 5 billion annually.

Impact
During the course of one year, four million American women are physically abused by their husbands or boyfriends and more than 20 million are verbally and/or emotionally abused. It is the leading cause of injury to women in the United States. The workplace is not immune to domestic violence. Employees are both victims of abuse and batterers. The effects of an abusive relationship do not stop at the home. It follows both the batterer and victim into the workplace:

• The batterer abuses the employee at the workplace using physical violence or harassment via the telephone, e-mail, or fax; and/or
• The batterer abuses the employee at home and the residual effects come to the workplace in the form of low morale; stress; lost productivity; absenteeism; turnover; increase health care costs and unemployment insurance.

Liabilities
There are several areas of business affected by domestic violence:

• Employee and Customer Safety
  In a survey of corporate security directors, 94% ranked domestic violence as a "high" security risk. Their feelings are justified. A full 75% of battered employees are harassed at work by batterers. This puts everyone around a victim at risk, including co-workers and customers.
  
  
• Victim, Batterer, and Co-Workers' Productivity
  Domestic violence greatly impacts workplace productivity. For every 100 victims, 94 will take at least one extra sick day a year, over 60 will be late by more than an hour five times a month, and nearly 60 will be harassed at work via the telephone by the batterer. All of this adds up to 70% of hurting, afraid, distracted and otherwise compromised victims having difficulty performing their jobs. These statistics also shows that batterers, who are focused on controlling their partner, will be distracted and unproductive. Also, co-workers have to deal with the above affects.
  
  
• Retention
  A recent study of domestic violence victims found that nearly 30% lost their jobs as a direct result of abuse. This has a major impact on business’ bottom line, especially in today’s highly competitive job market. The average cost to replace an employee is an estimated 75% of that person’s annual salary. And that means businesses pay even after an employee has been forced to leave the job.
  
  
• Insurance
  Some of the most insidious effects of domestic violence are the heightened health insurance premiums, increased worker’s compensation and higher unemployment insurance. These expenses add up quickly and can cut deeply into a business’ profitability.
  
  
• Liability
  Domestic violence in the workplace can create both a legal and public relations nightmare. In San Francisco, a jury awarded $5 million to the family of an employee who was shot at work by an abuser-all because the company had failed to "adequately address" domestic violence. Businesses can be held liable for negligence, sexual harassment, disability and family leave issues and a host of other causes of action.

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