year prior to being interviewed; of these, 59% reported physical abuse. results of studies which estimate the prevalence of domestic violence vary significantly, depending on specific wording of survey questions, how the survey is conducted, the definition of abuse or domestic violence used, the willingness or unwillingness of victims to admit that they have been abused and other factors. for instance, straus (2005) conducted a study which estimated that the rate of minor assaults by women in the united states was 78 per 1,000 couples, compared with a rate for men of 72 per 1,000 and the severe assault rate was 46 per 1,000 couples for assaults by women and 50 per 1,000 for assaults by men. neither difference is statistically significant. he claimed that since these rates were based exclusively on information provided by women respondents, the near-equality in assault rates could not be attributed to a gender bias in reporting. one analysis found that "women are as physically aggressive or more aggressive than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners". however, studies have shown that women are more likely to be injured. archer's meta-analysis found that women in the united states suffer 65% of domestic violence injuries. a canadian study showed that 7% of women and 6% of men were abused by their current or former partners, but female victims of spousal violence were more than twice as likely to be injured as male victims, three times more likely to fear for their life, twice as likely to be stalked, and twice as likely to experience more than ten incidents of violence. however, straus notes that canadian studies on domestic violence have simply excluded questions that ask men about being victimized by their wives. according to a 2004 survey in canada, the percentages of males being physically or sexually victimized by their partners was 6% versus 7% for women. however, females reported higher levels of repeated violence and were more likely than men to experience serious injuries; 23% of females versus 15% of males were faced with the most serious forms of violence including being beaten, choked, or threatened with or having a gun or knife used against them. also, 21% of women versus 11% of men were likely to report experiencing more than 10 violent incidents. women who often experience higher levels of physical or sexual violence from their current partner were 44%, compared with 18% of men to suffer from an injury. cases in which women are faced with extremely abusive partners result in the females having to fear for their lives due to the violence. in addition, statistics show that 34% of women feared for their lives, and 10% of men feared for theirs. some studies show that lesbian relationships have similar levels of violence as heterosexual relationships. united states approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men report being physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the united states. in the united states, domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44. victims of dv are offered legal remedies, which include the criminal law, as well as obtaining a protection order. the remedies offered can be both of a civil nature (civil orders of protection and other protective services) and of a criminal nature (charging the perpetrator with a criminal offense). people perpetrating dv are subject to criminal prosecution, most often under assault and battery laws. russia main article: domestic violence in russia in russia, according to a representative of the russian ministry of internal affairs, one in four families experiences domestic violence. domestic violence is not a specific criminal offense: it can be charged under various crimes of the criminal code (e.g. assault), but in practice cases of domestic violence turn into criminal cases only when they involve severe injuries, or the victim has died. for more details see domestic violence in russia. asia in turkey 42% of women over 15 have suffered physical or sexual violence. fighting the prevalence of domestic violence in kashmir has brought hindu and muslim activists together. according to some islamic clerics and women's advocates, women from muslim-majority cultures often face extra pressure to submit to domestic violence, as their husbands may manipulate islamic law to exert their control. one study found that half of palestinian women have been the victims of domestic violence. a study on bedouin women in israel found that most have experienced dv, most accepted it as a decree from god, and most believed they were to blame themselves for the violence. the study also showed that the majority of women were not aware of existing laws and policies which protect them: 60% said they did not know what a restraining order was. in iraq husbands have a legal right to "punish" their wives. the criminal code states at paragraph 41 that there is no crime if an act is committed while exercising a legal right; examples of legal rights include: "the punishment of a wife by her husband, the disciplining by parents and teachers of children under their authority within certain limits prescribed by law or by custom". in jordan, part of article 340 of the penal code states that "he who discovers his wife or one of his female relatives committing adultery and kills, wounds, or injures one of them, is exempted from any penalty." this has twice been put forward for cancellation by the government, but was retained by the lower house of the parliament, in 2003: a year in which at least seven honor killings took place. article 98 of the penal code is often cited alongside article 340 in cases of honor killings. "article 98 stipulates that a reduced sentence is applied to a person who kills another person in a 'fit of fury'". the human rights watch found that up to 90% of women in pakistan were subject to some form of maltreatment within their own homes. honor killings in pakistan are a very serious problem, especially in northern pakistan. in pakistan, honour killings are known locally as karo-kari. karo-kari is a compound word literally meaning "black male" (karo) and "black female" (kari). domestic violence in india is widespread, and is often related to the custom of dowry. honor killings are more common in some regions of india, particularly in northern regions of the country. honor killings have been reported in the states of punjab, rajasthan, haryana, uttar pradesh, and bihar, as a result of people marrying without their family's acceptance, and sometimes for marrying outside their caste or religion. africa true manhood – anti-domestic violence sign outside entebbe, uganda. "beating my wife destroyed my marriage: don't do what i did. a true man does not beat his partner." a un report compiled from a number of different studies conducted in at least 71 countries found domestic violence against women to be most prevalent in ethiopia. up to two-thirds of women in certain communities in nigeria's lagos state say they are victims to domestic violence. 80% of women surveyed in rural egypt said that beatings were common and often justified, particularly if the woman refused to have sex with her husband. australia statistics published in 2004, show that the rate of domestic violence victimisation for indigenous women in australia may be 40 times the rate for non-indigenous women. findings from the 2006 australian bureau of statistics personal safety survey show that among the female victims of physical assault, 31% were assaulted by a current or previous partner. among male victims, 4.4% were assaulted by a current or previous partner. thirty percent of people who had experienced violence by a current partner since the age of 15 were male, and seventy percent were female.