Domestic Violence
The Issue
Domestic violence is the single largest cause of injury to American women between the ages of 14 and 44. Each year, between two million and four million women are injured by domestic violence in this country, and some 2,000 of these women die. Abuse occurs between spouses and partners, between siblings, between parents and children, and between children and grandparents. Victims can be any age, race, class, sexual orientation, and gender.
Did you know.
- 1 out of 4 women is likely to be abused by a partner in her lifetime.
- 1 out of 3 Americans will witness an act of domestic violence.
- Every 9 seconds, a woman is physically abused by her partner.
- 15-25% of pregnant women are physically abused.
- 3 million children witness acts of violence yearly.
- 94% of corporate security directors surveyed ranked domestic violence as a high security risk at their company.
- Murder is the leading cause of on-the-job death among women.
- 30% of all women seeking treatment in hospital emergency rooms are victims of battering.
- On a national level, domestic violence costs employers $3 to $5 billion annually.
The medical, emotional and economic toll of domestic violence, which often carries through generations of a family, sends up an urgent cry for communities to intensify efforts to address this issue as a community concern. With the right tools and information, everyone can play a role in stopping the violence-teachers and students, church leaders and congregations, employers and employees, policy makers and voters, women and men.
The first step is to break the silence and talk about the issues. Please use Poof! and the companion materials on this web site as tools to get the conversations going in your corner of the world. You can use the discussion guide with church groups, classrooms, book clubs, support groups, work groups, friends, family members, neighborhood associations, and any other group that makes sense in your community.