Background The prevalence of domestic violence (DV) in research subjects has not been evaluated. In the general population, about 25% of women report DV. We hypothesize that participants in research studies would report similar rates of abuse to women in the general population and that subjects in abortion studies would report higher rates of abuse than women in other gynecologic studies. Study design We included a modified abuse assessment questionnaire as a routine section of the medical history obtained for 256 women who were enrolling in abortion, contraceptive and other gynecologic research studies. Rates of reported recent or lifetime abuse, defined as physical or sexual violence, were compared for women in each study group by χ 2 analysis and Fisher's Exact Tests. A multivariable analysis with stepwise logistic regression was used to compare study groups. Results The overall rate of ever-experience DV was 18% for the study population. Lifetime rates of DV were 17%, 15% and 30% in women enrolling in abortion, contraceptive and other gynecologic research studies, respectively (p=.17). Abuse within the last 2 months was reported by 1%, 0% and 0% of women, respectively (p=.50). After controlling for age, race, ethnicity, gravity, parity and marital status, the rates of violence did not vary between study groups. Conclusion We found the rates of DV in women who volunteer for research studies are similar to those reported for women in the general population. Subjects in abortion research studies do not report DV more frequently than women in contraceptive or other gynecologic studies.