Battered women? A letter to the editor of the New York Times complained about a Times editorial that said “an American woman is beaten by her husband or boyfriend every 15 seconds.” The writer of the letter claimed that “at that rate, 21 million women would be beaten by their husbands or boyfriends every year. That is simply not the case.” He cited the National Crime Victimization Survey, which estimated 56,000 cases of violence against women by their husbands and 198,000 by boyfriends or former boyfriends. The survey showed 2.2 million assaults against women in all, most by strangers or someone the woman knew who was not her past or present husband or boyfriend.

(a) First do the arithmetic. Every 15 seconds is 4 per minute. At that rate, how many beatings would take place in an hour? In a day? In a year? Is the letter writer’s arithmetic correct?

Chapter 9 Exercises 177

(b) Is the letter writer correct to claim that the Times overstated the number of cases of domestic violence against women?