Myth:                Battering is rare.

Fact:                 Domestic violence is extremely common. The FBI estimates that a woman is battered every fifteen seconds in the United States.

Myth:                Domestic violence occurs only in poor, poorly educated, minority or “dysfunctional” families. It could never happen to anyone I know.

Fact:                 There are doctors, ministers, psychologists, and professionals who beat their wives. Battering happens in rich, white, educated and respectable families. About half of the couples in this country experience violence at some time in their relationship.

Myth:                Battering is about couples getting into a brawl on Saturday night beating each other up, and totally disrupting the neighborhood.

Fact:                 In domestic assaults, one partner is beating, intimidating and terrorizing the other. It’s not “mutual combat” or two people in a fistfight. It’s one person dominating and controlling the other.

Myth:                Batterers are crazy.

Fact:                 An extremely small percentage of batterers are mentally ill. The vast majority seem totally normal, and are often charming, persuasive, and rational. The major difference between an abuser and other people is that they use force and intimidation to control their partners. Battering is a behavioral choice.

Myth:                Domestic violence is usually a one time event, an isolated incident.

Fact:                 Battering is pattern, a reign of force and terror. Once violence begins in a relationship, it gets worse and more frequent over a period of time. Battering is not just one physical attack. It is a number of tactics (intimidation, threats, economic deprivation, psychological and sexual abuse) used repeatedly. Physical violence is one of those tactics. Experts have compared methods used by batters to those used by terrorists to brainwash hostages.

Myth:                Battered women always stay in violent relationships.

Fact:                 Many battered women leave their abusers permanently, and despite many obstacles, succeed in building a life free of violence. Almost all battered women leave at least once. The perpetrator dramatically escalates his violence when a woman leaves (or tries to), because it is necessary for him to reassert control and ownership. Battered women are often very active (and far from helpless) on their own behalf. Their efforts often fail because the batterer continues to assault, and institutions refuse to offer protections.

Myth:                The community places responsibility for violence where it belongs – on the criminal.

Fact:                 Most people blame the victim of battering for the crime, some without realizing it. They expect the woman to stop the violence, and repeatedly analyze her motivations for not leaving, rather than scrutinizing why the batterer keeps beating her, and why the community allows it.

Myth:                Drinking causes battering.

Fact:                 Assailants use drinking as one of many excuses for violence, and as a way of putting responsibility for their violence elsewhere. There is a 50% or higher correlation between substance abuse and domestic violence, but no causal relationship. Stopping the assailant’s drinking will not end his violence. Both problems must be addressed.

Myth:                Stress causes domestic assault.

Fact:                 Many people who are under extreme stress do not assault their partners. Assailants who are stressed at work do not attack their coworkers or bosses.

Myth:                Men who batter do so because they cannot control themselves or because they have “poor impulse control.”

Fact:                 Men who batter are usually not violent towards anyone but their wives/partners or their children. They can control themselves sufficiently to pick a safe target. Men often beat women in parts of their bodies where bruises will not show. Sixty percent of battered women are beaten while they are pregnant, often in the stomach. Many assaults last for hours and many are planned in advance.

Myth:                Rapists are strangers.

Fact:                 One out of every seven married women is raped by her husband. At least 60% and possibly all physically battered women are sexually abused by their partners. This abuse includes, but is not limited to: forced sex in front of children, forced sex with animals or in groups, and prostitution.

Myth:                If a battered woman really wanted to leave, she could just call the police.

Fact:                 Police have traditionally been reluctant to respond to domestic assaults, or to intervene in what they think of as a private matter. Police have usually temporarily separated the couple, leaving the woman vulnerable to further violence.

Myth:                If a battered woman really wanted to leave, she could easily get help from her religious leader.

Fact:                 Some priests, clergy, and rabbis have been extremely supportive of battered women. Others ignore the abuse, are unsupportive, or actively support the assailant’s control of his partner.

Myth:                Men who batter are often good fathers and should have joint custody of their children.

Fact:                 At least 70% of men who batter their wives sexually or physically abuse their children. All children suffer from witnessing their father assault their mother.

Myth:                If a battered woman really wanted to leave, she could just pack up and go somewhere else.

Fact:                 Battered women considering leaving their assailants are faced with the very real possibility of severe physical damage or even death. Assailants deliberately isolate their partners, and deprive them of jobs, of opportunities for acquiring education and job skills. This, combined with unequal opportunities for women in general and lack of affordable childcare, make it excruciatingly difficult for women to leave.

Domestic Violence Facts

·         Victims of domestic violence are NOT responsible for the violence. Victims cannot and are not making their abusive partner hurt them. The abuser is responsible for his/her own actions and words.

·         Domestic violence is all too common. Up to 6 million women are believed to be beaten in their homes each year.

·         The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence estimates that up to 90% of battered women never report their abuse. (The Domestic Violence Sourcebook, Berry, 1996)

·         Approximately 1 in 4 high school students has reported that they have experienced physical violence in a relationship. (Gamache, 1991)

·         More than one-third of the girls in grades 10 - 12 report at least one incident of physical abuse. (Search Institute, 1990)

·         Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages 15-44, more common than automobile accidents, muggings and rapes combined. (U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop)

·         According to the American Medical Association, family violence kills as many women every 5 years as the total number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War. (The Domestic Violence Sourcebook, Berry, 1996)

·         There are at least 4 million reported incidents of domestic violence against women every year. Almost 20% of these are aggravated assaults in the home. (Angela Brown, Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, December 1990)

·         In 1991, only 17 states kept data on reported domestic violence offenses. Those reports were limited to murder, rape, robbery, and serious bodily injury and no other forms of domestic violence. (Senate Judiciary Committee Report, October 1992)

·         Women are 10 times more likely then men to be victims of violent crime in intimate relationships. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Violence Against Women, January 1994)

·         Reports by battered mothers show that 87% of children witness the abuse. (The Battered Woman Syndrome, Lenore Walker, 1984)

·         Four women are murdered by their male partners each day in the U.S. (FBI, 1997)

·         According to the US Surgeon General, domestic violence is the leading cause of death among women in the United States. “Battering is the single largest cause of injury to women nationally, occurring more often than auto accidents, muggings and rape combined.”¹

·         An estimated 6 million American women are assaulted by their male partners each year. ²

·         Approximately 95% of all domestic violence assaults and crimes are committed by men against women. ³

·         Domestic violence occurs among all races and socioeconomic groups. ⁴

·         47% of husbands who beat their wives do so three or more times a year. ⁵

·         Data from the National Crime Survey indicates that once a woman is victimized by domestic violence, she is at high risk for being victimized again. During a six month interval following an incident of domestic violence, approximately 32% of women are victimized again. ⁶

·         “14% of never-married women report being raped by their current or former husbands, and rape is a significant or major form of abuse in 54% of violent marriages.” ⁷

·         “Women who leave their batterers are at a 75% greater risk of being killed by the batterer than those who stay.” ⁸

·         An estimated 52% of female murder victims were killed by a current partner or ex-husband.” ⁹

·         Weapons are used in 30% of domestic violence incidents. ¹⁰

·         It is estimated businesses forfeit another 100 million dollars annually to domestic violence due to lost wages, absenteeism, sick leave and non-productivity. ¹¹

·         74% of battered women in the work force are harassed (by telephone or in person) by abusive husbands and lovers... causing 20% to lose their jobs. ¹²

·         An estimated 50% of all homeless women and children in the United States are fleeing domestic violence.¹³

·         In 1987, 375,000 abused women and children were served by shelters and safe houses in the U.S. This is startling considering that shelters can accept only about 60% of those who need help. ¹⁴

·         Over 53% of male abusers beat their children. ¹⁵

·         “As violence against women becomes more severe and more frequent in the home, children experience a 300% increase in physical violence by the male batterer.” ¹⁶

·         If male children SEE domestic violence, they are 700 times more likely to repeat violence. If male children EXPERIENCE domestic violence, they are 1,000 times more likely to repeat violence. ¹⁷

·         In Ohio, approximately 80% of violent juvenile offenders and adult prisoners come from homes in which domestic violence occurred. ¹⁸

·         44% of female inmates reported being either physically or sexually abused at some point in their lives before their current imprisonment. Moreover, abused women were more likely than other women in prison to be violent repeat offenders. ¹⁹

ENDNOTES:

1. Albrecht, Brian H. (October 1,1991) “City’s Benefactor of the Battered Learns New Tune: Domestic Violence Is No. 1 Killer”, The Plain Dealer.
2. Statistics courtesy of the American Medical Association (AMA). Source Ohio State Medical Association (1993) Ohio Physicians’ Domestic Violence Prevention Project: Trust Talk.
3. Bureau of Justice Statistics (October 1983) “Report to the Nation on Crime and Justice: The Data”. Washington, D.C.: Office of Justice Programs, US. Department of Justice.
4. Schulman, M. A. (1979) “A Survey of Spousal Violence Against Women in Kentucky”. Washington, D.C. US. Government Printing Office.
5. Statistic courtesy of the AMA. Source: Ohio State Medial Association (1993) Ohio Physicians’ Domestic Violence Prevention Project: Trust Talk.
6. Langan, P.A. & Innes, C. A. (1986) “Preventing Domestic Violence Against Women: Bureau of Justice Statistic Special Report”. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
7. Statistics courtesy of the AMA. Source of quote: Ohio State Medical Association (1993) Ohio Physicians’ Domestic Violence Prevention Project: Trust Talk.
8. Quote taken from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence “Fact Sheet”. Original source Barbara Hart (1988).
9. Bureau of Justice Statistics (October 1983) “Report to the Nation on Crime and Justice: The Data”. Washington, D.C.: Office of Justice Programs, US. Department of Justice.
10. Claus, P. & Ranel, M. (Undated) “Special Report Family Violence”. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
11. Colorado Domestic Violence Coalition (1991) Domestic Violence for Health Care Providers.
12. Harlow, Caroline Wolf (1991) Domestic Violence for Health Care Providers.
13. Shecter & Gray. (1988) A Framework for Understanding and Empowering Battered Women.
14. National Women’s Health Resource Center (June 21, 1991) “Violence Against Women”.
15. Walker, Lenore (1984).
16. Quoted from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Fact Sheet. Original source: Strauss, Murray & Gelles, Richard (1990) Physical Violence in American Families.
17. Walks, Lenore (March 20,1992) Presentation at the Federation for Community Planning’s Health and Human Services Institute, Cleveland.
18. Ohio Department of Human Services (1991).
19. Bureau of Justice (March 1992) Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report.