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According
to the National Coalition for 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.”
An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of domestic violence each year.
One in every four women will experience domestic violence at some time in her life, but most cases are not reported to police. Females ages 20-24 are at the greatest risk. In addition, an estimated thirty to sixty percent perpetrators of domestic violence also abuse children in the household.
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