Domestic Violence-related Emergency Department Visits

Rates of emergency department visits involving domestic violence highest among females, children, and young adults

Domestic violence is a systematic pattern of behavior used by an individual to establish coercive control over an intimate partner and may consist of physical, sexual, psychological, financial, and/or emotional abuse. It can happen to anyone, regardless of age, sex, gender identity, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or economic status. The impact of domestic violence on survivors and in communities make it a serious public health issue. 

Because domestic violence is underreported and many abusive tactics do not meet the legal definition, there are many limitations to the data available about domestic violence. Please see the ‘Data Resources’ section below for data sources that explore domestic violence topics beyond what is reported in this data visualization. 

One metric that we can look at is emergency department visits related to domestic violence. In 2024, the rate of emergency department (ED) visits involving domestic violence among King County residents was 94.1 per 100,000 residents. 

  • Age: The highest rates of ED visits involving domestic violence were among young adults age 18-24 (165.9 per 100,000 visits) and children (160.0 per 100,000 visits).  

  • Gender: Females (132.6 per 100,000 visits) had over twice the rate of ED visits involving domestic violence compared to Males (56.7 per 100,000 visits). Females are disproportionately affected by domestic violence worldwide.   

  • Race: The highest rate of ED visits involving domestic violence were among people of American Indian/Alaska Native descent (324.6 per 100,000 visits), followed by Black (213.1 per 100,000 visits), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (144.1 per 100,000 visits), Multiple Race (124.4 per 100,000 visits), Hispanic (121.5 per 100,000 visits), White (81.4 per 100,000 visits), and Asian (30.7 per 100,000 visits) King County residents. 

  • Region: Residents of King County’s South Region (167.1 per 100,000 visits) had the highest rate of ED visits involving domestic violence of any region, while those in Seattle had the lowest (50.5 per 100,000 visits). 

  • Trends: For King County residents, the rate of ED visits involving domestic violence has generally increased , from 63.7 per 100,000 visits in 2020 to 94.1 per 100,000 visits in 2024. 

General Resources 

Data Resources 

Notes & Sources

Source: Washington State Department of Health’s Rapid Health Information Network (RHINO) 

These data are reported by emergency departments (EDs) to the Washington State Department of Health’s Rapid Health Information Network (RHINO, which oversees the collection and dissemination of syndromic surveillance, or healthcare encounter data, for the state of Washington). Visits are grouped into syndromes based on chief complaint narrative and available diagnosis codes as well as other relevant fields from the visit record. More information on RHINO can be found here.  

The data reported here represent all emergency department visits occurring in King County except Seattle VA Medical Center. Visits to urgent care, primary care, or specialty doctor’s offices are not included.  

Syndromic surveillance focuses on the number of visits, rather than the number of patients, so individuals with multiple emergency department visits may be counted multiple times. Because people with symptoms consistent with asthma or related health outcomes might present with a non-specific chief complaint or have a diagnosis that was missed by the syndrome definitions, data do not reflect the exact number of visits attributed to these conditions. 

 
Back to top