What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Violence against women is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior, and thus is part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence results in physical injury, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime.
Domestic Violence Statistics
Only half of all tweens (age 11-14) claim to know the warning signs of a bad/hurtful relationship.
(Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2008.)
13% of teenage girls who said they have been in a relationship report being physically hurt or hit.
(Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2005.)
If trapped in an abusive relationship, 73% of teens said they would turn to a friend for help; but only 33% who have been in or known about an abusive relationship said they have told anyone about it.
(Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2005.)
Nearly 80% of girls who have been physically abused in their intimate relationships continue to date their abuser.
(City of New York, Teen Relationship Abuse Fact Sheet, March 1998.)
Every 9 seconds a woman is battered in the United States.
(AMA, 1998, Georgia Department of Human Resources, 1999.)
One in four women experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
(Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2006.)
Women who leave their batterers are at 75% greater risk of severe injury or death than those who stay.
(Barbara Hart, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1988.)
Find out More
National Domestic Violence Hotline
National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline
Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence
Partnership Against Domestic Violence - Atlanta
Love is Not Abuse - Liz Claiborne Inc.
National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
Men Stopping Violence
US Department of Justice: Office of Violence Against Women
Warning Signs
Steps from Dr. Phil for escaping an abusive relationship
www.drphil.com/articles/article/605
Get Help
National Domestic Violence Hotline
(800) 799-SAFE (7233)
National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline
(866) 331-9474
Safe Horizon
(gives cell phones to victims to seek help)
Avon - The Avon Foundation
Allstate - The Allstate Foundation
