Did You Know?


DID YOU KNOW? WOMEN 1. Every 9 seconds a woman is battered in the United States. 2. Twelve million women (25% of the female population) will be abused in their lifetime. 3. Each day in this country, three or more male intimate partners beat their women to death. 4. It is estimated 2 million to 4 million US women are assaulted by a domestic partner every year. 5. Nearly one in every three adult women experiences at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood. 6. Approximately four million American women experience a serious assault by an intimate partner during a 12-month period. 7. Around the world, at least one woman in every three has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Most often, the abuser is a member of her own family. 8. Domestic Violence is the number one leading cause of injury to women in the United States, exceeding the numbers of rapes, muggings, auto accidents and cancer death combined. 9. Abuse victims need medical care, up to 54% of women seeking emergency services, up to 66% of women seeking general medical care and up to 20% of women seeking prenatal care report experiencing domestic violence. 10. In an abusive situation, many battered women will try to solve the problem by talking it out with the abuser, by fighting back or by trying to change their behavior to meet the demands of the abuser (of course, then the demands change). When women fail to stop the abuse, they may become passive, which may reduce the immediate danger or may go into a state of emotional withdrawal. In the end, abuse may push a woman to see only two options: suicide or homicide. TEENAGERS AND CHILDREN 1. Domestic Violence is most prominent among women aged 16 to 24. 2. Adolescent girls were twice as likely as boys to be stabbed than shot, while boys were twice as likely to be shot than stabbed. 3. The educational system is required to provide specialized services to children suffering from behavioral problems resulting from domestic violence. 4. Adolescent boys were 1.75 times more likely than girls to be injured in school and 2.27 times more likely to be injured in a public place than at home. 5. Children growing up in a house with domestic violence will grow up and require medical care for stress-related illnesses, mental health care for anxiety, depression, panic and shock. 6. Adolescent girls were nearly twice as likely as adolescent boys to have preexisting cognitive or psychosocial impairments, which have been associated with risk of alcohol and other drug abuse linked to date rape. 7. Adolescent girls (12 to 18 years) preexisting psychosocial or medical problems appear to be particularly vulnerable to serious injury and are more likely than adolescent boys to be attacked in their own home or a friend’s home. Abused children will likely end up costing the state money in the legal system, will earn less than their peers because of their academic difficulties as children and because they may have lost the optimistic and risk-taking qualities necessary to become successful and finally, they will likely raise children who will in turn continue the cycle. BACK TO THE TOP GENERAL 1. Intimate acquaintance is defined as a wife, common-law wife, ex-wife or girlfriend. 2. Physical violence is estimated to occur in 4 to 6 million intimate relationships each year in the United States. 3. Up to 35% of women and 22% of men presenting to the emergency department have experienced domestic violence. 4. There is cost to the productivity of our workhouse in the form of absenteeism, worker re-training (when a victim is killed) and decreased productivity. 5. Threats and violence are control strategies used by the batterer; the woman’s leaving may threaten his sense of power and increase his need to control the woman and children. 6. Studies show that the highest risk for serious injury or death from violence in an intimate relationship is at the point of separation or at the time when the decision to separate is made. 7. Battered women are from all types of life styles, high society to welfare recipients. They consist of all races, colors and creeds that have become victims of domestic violence. 8. Victims of domestic violence are reluctant to report abuse. Women very reasonably fear retaliation against themselves and their children by the abuser and fear the economic upheaval that may follow the report. 9. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on homicide among intimate partners found that female intimate partners are more likely to be murdered with a firearm than other female homicide victims. 10. Domestic Violence is not just hitting, fighting, or an occasional mean argument. It is a chronic abuse of power. The abuser tortures and controls the victim by calculated threats, intimidation and physical violence. Actual physical violence is often the result of months or years of intimidation and control. 11. Victims of abuse also require mental health care. There is enormous cost to the state in the form of time spent by law enforcement officers, courts, lawyers, public health workers and social welfare organizations in the form of money and donated time to staff and run shelters, counseling services, hotlines and more. Many times, women’s self-esteem is so low because of spouse abuse that they are unable to see themselves as worthy of seeking help or they rationalize the abuse, believing they caused or deserve it. Police complain that often when they arrest an abuser, the victims want them to drop the charges. BACK TO THE TOP References “Domestic Violence: An Overview” was written by C. J. Newton, MA, Learning Specialist and published in the Find Counseling.com (formerly TherapistFinder.net) Mental Health Journal in February, 2001 http://www.findcounseling.com/journal/domestic-violence/ http://www.findcounseling.com/journal/domestic-violence/domestic-violence-statistics.html http://www.findcounseling.com/journal/domestic-violence/spouse-abuse.html http://www.findcounseling.com/journal/domestic-violence/conclusions.html “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2000 Homicide Data” by The Violence Policy Center http://www.vpc.org/studies/dv5intr.htm Research Activities, December 2001: Children’s Health: Violence affects many teenage girls… http://www.ahrq.gov/research/dec01/1201RA11.htm BACK TO THE TOP