Myth No. 1

Domestic violence is not very common. It is a private, family matter and other people should mind their own business.

Fact No. 1

Domestic violence occurs every nine seconds in the U.S. The Office of the Surgeon General reports "wife beating" results in more injuries that require medical treatment than auto accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. Every year domestic violence adds three to five billion dollars to our country's healthcare costs.

Myth No. 2

Domestic violence is just a slap or a push. Nobody gets seriously hurt.

Fact No. 2

Each year more than one million women seek medical assistance for injuries caused by domestic violence. The FBI reports that 30 percent of female homicide victims are killed by their husbands or male partners, compared to six percent of men.

Myth No. 3

Women are not the only victims of domestic violence. Men are just as likely to be victims.

Fact No. 3

Women account for 95 percent of domestic violence victims. In the U.S., a woman is more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped, or killed by a male partner than by any other type of assailant.

Myth No. 4

The victim brought the domestic violence on herself. If she just behaved better, it wouldn't happen.

Fact No. 4

No one deserves to be punched, kicked, slapped, or threatened with a weapon. Domestic violence is a cycle which occurs more frequently with increased severity as the relationship continues. The attacks do not stop just because the victim changes her behavior. The only thing the victim can do to escape the violence is to leave.

Myth No. 5

Domestic violence may not be pleasant but it is a private matter between intimate partners. The authorities should not get involved.

Fact No. 5

One third of domestic violence victims are abused during pregnancy, and these women often suffer miscarriages at twice the normal rate. Children witness 75 percent of all domestic violence incidents, causing them to suffer from anxiety, depression, and poor performance in school. Children in homes where domestic violence is present are 1,500 percent more likely to become victims themselves. The single most common injury to 14-year-old boys results from those boys' attempts to intervene in a battering situation between their mothers and the abusers.

Myth No. 6

There are plenty of places for abused women to go. They don't have to remain in the home where they are being abused.

Fact No. 6

There are almost three times as many animal shelters as there are domestic violence shelters in this country. In 1999, 65 percent of the need for shelter beds goes unmet every night in Indianapolis.

Myth No. 7

If the woman leaves, she is safe from harm.

Fact No. 7

Women who separate from their abusers are three times more likely to be attacked by those abusers than divorced women, and 25 times higher than married women.

Source: Domestic Violence: The Facts, Peace at Home, Inc., 1997; National Crime Victimization Survey, US Department of Justice, 1995; US Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings, 1990; Branch-Rooke et al., 1990.