What is Domestic Violence?

Current reports indicate that between 1 and 4 million women are assaulted by an intimate each year. Domestic violence crosses ethnic, racial, generational, sexual orientation, religious and socioeconomic lines. Nearly one in three women will experience at least one physical assault by their partner in their lifetime.

When left untreated, domestic violence:

• Is the single largest cause of injury to women in the United States, more common than automobile accidents, muggings and rapes combined
• Involves half of all adult women as victims, more than once
• Is responsible for more than one-third of all female murder victims
• Touches one-fourth of all American families

In addition, violence in the home infects our communities by perpetuating social ills such as alcoholism, drug addiction, juvenile delinquency, suicide and runaway children. The effect on our community is devastating.