A SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED OF A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF 1,793 KENTUCKY WOMEN WHO WERE MARRIED OR LIVING WITH A MALE PARTNER. RESPONDENTS REPORTED ON ACTS OF SPOUSAL VIOLENCE OR ABUSE ACCORDING TO A CONFLICT TACTICS SCALE CONSISTING OF A LIST OF ACTIONS THAT A FAMILY MEMBER MIGHT TAKE IN A CONFLICT WITH ANOTHER MEMBER, RANGING FROM LOW COERCIVENESS AND HIGH SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY TO MORE COERCIVE AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS CULMINATING IN ABUSE. RESPONDENTS WERE ASKED THE NUMBER OF TIMES EACH ACTION OCCURRED DURING THE PAST YEAR, RANGING FROM NEVER TO MORE THAN 20 TIMES. THE SURVEY'S MOST STRIKING FINDING WAS THAT FAR FROM BEING UNCOMMON AND RARE, FULLY 1 IN 10 FEMALE PARTNERS EXPERIENCED SOME DEGREE OF SPOUSAL VIOLENCE BY THEIR PARTNERS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS; I.E., MORE THAN 80,000 KENTUCKY WOMEN WERE VICTIMIZED BY THEIR SPOUSES LAST YEAR. THE EXPERIENCE OF AT LEAST 1 INCIDENT OF SPOUSAL VIOLENCE AT SOME TIME WAS REPORTED BY 21 PERCENT OF THE RESPONDENTS. OVER 4 PERCENT OF FEMALE PARTNERS REPORTED EXPERIENCING THE MOST SEVERE FORMS OF VIOLENCE (BEING KICKED, BATTERED, THREATENED WITH WEAPONS) IN THE PAST YEAR, AND OVER 8 PERCENT EXPERIENCED THEM AT SOME TIME. WHILE THERE WAS SOME TENDENCY FOR THESE FAMILIES TO BE URBAN, YOUNG, AND NONWHITE, THE VIOLENCE PRONE WERE FOUND ACROSS THE SOCIAL SPECTRUM. SCHOOL DROPOUTS WERE LESS PRONE TO VIOLENCE THAN THOSE WHO HAVE ATTENDED HIGH SCHOOL. WOMEN WHO SUFFERED FAMILY VIOLENCE AS CHILDREN WERE ABOUT ONE THIRD MORE LIKELY TO ENCOUNTER IT IN THEIR OWN MARRIAGES. POLICE WERE CALLED IN ONLY 9 PERCENT OF THE INCIDENTS REPORTED HERE, AND 43 PERCENT OF THE RESPONDENTS DID NOT SEEK HELP AT ALL. IT WAS FOUND THAT VIOLENT INCIDENTS IN POOR FAMILIES REACHED OFFICIAL POLICE RECORDS MORE FREQUENTLY; THE MIDDLE CLASS CONCEALED ITS FAMILY VIOLENCE FROM PUBLIC AND OFFICIAL VIEW. THE RESPONSES SHOWED THAT WOMEN WOULD HAVE LIKED TO RECEIVE COUNSELING, CHILD CARE, LEGAL AID, AND EMERGENCY SHELTER FAR MORE FREQUENTLY THAN THEY ACTUALLY OBTAINED SUCH SERVICES AFTER VICTIMIZATION, INDICATING THE STATE'S OBLIGATION TO ADDRESS THIS NEED. TABULAR DATA AND NOTES ARE PROVIDED. APPENDIXES INCLUDED THE STUDY METHODOLOGY AND INSTRUMENTS.