As the Marin County Grand Jury’s 2010 report on domestic violence noted, domestic violence has been Marin County’s number one violent crime for more than 20 years.  Annually, the District Attorney’s Office received around 600 domestic violence cases from law enforcement. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey, only 25% of all physical assaults are reported.  This could mean there are as many as 2,500 incidents of physical assaults from domestic violence in Marin each year.

Each incident of nonfatal domestic violence costs $27,362 per U.S. female victim, including costs related to productivity, medical and mental health care, police and fire service, social/victim services, and property damage.  Applying this estimate, domestic violence could cost Marin more than $92 million each year.