What You Should Know About Domestic Violence

Facts 

Domestic violence is defined by the American Psychological Association as “the use of repeated and coercive acts by one partner, in an intimate, dating or marriage relationship, against the other in order to unfairly gain power and control.”   Domestic Violence is not an isolated incident and is not defined only by bruises or acts of physical aggression.  Batterers can use various tactics including extreme jealousy, isolation, intimidation, belittling, stalking, threats, psychological abuse, the use of force during sex, or the use of symbolic violence (i.e.: tearing a wedding photo, etc).   Many of these behaviors are surrounded by physical violence or the constant threat of physical violence.  This is far beyond someone just losing their temper (as has been often defined), this is about control.  These behaviors are intentional acts that often occur over a significant period of time, increase in severity and frequency over time, and all too often result in death. 

Most abusive relationships do not start abusive nor are they abusive all the time.  Often time’s abusive relationships have periods of intimacy, the batterer may apologize, promise to change, and periods where the perpetrator acts like a ‘good person.’ Batterers may project the blame and responsibility for the abuse on the victim or minimize the abuse.   A perpetrator often threatens to harm the victim or the victim’s children should they leave or seek help.   These are some of the most significant reasons why victims remain in violent or abusive relationships.

Domestic violence occurs in every race, every ethnic and socioeconomic group, and every religious background.  While men have reported to experiencing such relationships (and while such relationships are harmful for men who experience them), a large body of literature and a number of statistical reports, reflect that the majority (up to 95 percent) of domestic violence victims are women. A failure to identify this powerful fact is in fact, hurtful towards long-term, positive solutions and social change.  Victims and Batterers do not fit a particular profile. Research, however, suggests that abusers may be more likely to minimize violent acts (especially those he/she commits), project responsibility or blame for their actions on objects or others (such as, ‘The drugs made me do it’ or ‘She provoked me.’) have poor impulse control, have a history of violence, act cruelly to animals, have sudden and extreme changes in mood, and many times have belief systems that condone the use of gender privilege (i.e.: acting like the ‘master of the castle’).

Domestic violence is not a rare occurrence. If domestic violence has not personally affected you, it will affect someone you know.      

Statistics

United States

• One in three women will experience domestic violence at least once in her lifetime (American Psychological Association Violence and the Family: Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996).
  
• Females are ten times more likely to be victimized by an intimate than are males (Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: National Crime Victimizations Survey, Violence Against Women, 1994).
  
• Domestic Violence is statistically consistent across racial and ethnic lines (Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Violence Against Women: Estimates from the Redesigned Survey, 1995).
  
• Victims and Batterers do not fit a particular profile. At one batterer’s counseling center, "Approximately one-third of the men counseled (for battering) are professional men who are well respected in their jobs & their communities. These have included doctors, psychologists, lawyers, ministers, and business executives. (For Shelter and Beyond, Massachusetts Coalition of Battered Women Service Groups, Boston, MA 1990).”
  
• Forty percent of teenage girls age 14 to 17 report knowing someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend (Children Now/Kaiser Permanente poll, December, 1995).
  
• Women 19-29 report the highest rates of intimate violence (Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Violence Against Women: Estimates from the Redesigned Survey, 1995).
  
• 32 percent of women that are injured by an intimate are victimized again within a six month period (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1986).
  
• Husbands and boyfriends commit over 13,000 acts of violence against women in the workplace every year (Violence and Theft in the Workplace, U.S. Department of Justice, July, 1994).
  
• Female victims of violence are 2.5 times more likely to suffer severe injury when the violence is committed by an intimate partner than when it is committed by a stranger (Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Violence Against Women: Estimates form the Redesigned Survey, 1995).
  
• 40 to 60 percent of men who abuse their wife or girlfriend also abuse their children (American Psychological Association, Violence in the Family: Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996).
  
• Battering remains the single most identifiable cause for birth defects in the United States (March of Dimes, 1994).

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Where to Get Help 

Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for toll free, 24 hour confidential assistance and information on domestic violence, and for referrals to programs and resources available in your area.  For victims and offenders.
1-800-799- SAFE
1-800-787-3224 (TYY)
or visit http://www.ndvh.org

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