Domestic Violence Awareness

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, a cause that means a lot to me and that I try to advocate. Here are some definitions and statistics:

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS:

• Domestic Violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological. It includes behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.
• Physical Abuse: Any form of pysical violence along with denying a partner or children medical care or forcing alcohol or drug use.
• Sexual Abuse: Sexual contact or behavior without consent
• Emotional Abuse: Undermining an individual's sense of self-worth and/or self-esteem. Includes constant criticism, diminishing one's abilities, name-calling, or damaging one's relationship with children
• Economic abuse: Controlling over finances, withholding access to money, etc
• Psychological abuse: Causing fear by intimidation, threatening physical harm to self, partner, or children, destruction of property, and forcing isolation.

IMPORTANT STATISTICS:

• 1 in 4 woman have experienced domestic violence
• Between 600,000 and 6 million woman and 100,000 and 6 million men are victims each year
• Women ages 20-24 are at greatest risk
• Woman of ALL races are equally vulnerable
• 3 out 0f 4 Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim.
• On average, more than 3 women and 1 man are murdered in America every year as a result of DV
• 50% of men who frequently assaulted their wives, also abused their children
• 3.3 to 10 million children witness some form of DV annually

**Domestic Violence is not a joke and should not be kept in the dark. Don't keep silent about it. Speak out. ***

Source of Definitions and Statistics- http://www.evefoundation.org/