| Women in
the US | Women in Indiana | Impact
on Children
The Surgeon General of the United States recently declared domestic
violence the number one health issue facing the country today.
In this country, 95% of domestic violence victims are women.
A woman is beaten every nine seconds in the U.S.
Every year over 2 million women in the U.S. report being beaten
by their domestic partners.
Nearly two out of every five women in the U.S. have been physically
or sexually assaulted sometime during their lives.
Women in this country experience ten times the number of incidents
of violence by intimate partners as do men.
Battered women are often severely injured: 22-35% of women's emergency
room visits are for injuries caused by on-going partner abuse.
Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between
15 and 44 years of age in the U.S. - more than car accidents,
muggings, and rapes combined.
50% of all homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence.
The United States has 1,500 shelters for battered women and 3,800
animal shelters.
No ethnic or socioeconomic group is the source of domestic violence
in this country. It equally affects people of African, European,
Hispanic, or Asian origin, who are rich or poor, college graduates
or high school dropouts - no woman is immune to the risk of being
abused.
Women who leave their batterers are at 75% greater risk of being
killed by the batterer than those who stay. These women are also
25 times more likely to be seriously injured by their batterer
when they leave than when they stay.
The FBI estimates that almost one third of all women murdered
in this country are victims of domestic violence. Nonetheless,
the average sentence for the murder of these women is only two
to six years in prison. The average prison sentence for a woman
who kills her intimate partner is 15 years.
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Nearly 21,000 women in Marion County are physically abused in
domestic relationships each year.
About 4,000 domestic violence cases are prosecuted in Marion County
each year. Some 70% of all protective orders requested involved
a domestic dispute.
In 1999, there were more than 21,000 police runs for domestic
violence in Marion County.
In 1998, 39 women and children were killed due to domestic violence.
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Up to three million U.S. children witness domestic violence in
their homes each year.
Pregnancy is no protection for domestic violence. In fact, one
Illinois study found that 30% of all battered women were battered
during pregnancy and they experienced two times the number of
miscarriages.
Domestic violence also has a profound affect on children in the
family. Children from homes where domestic violence is present
are 1,500 percent more likely to be victims of abuse themselves.
63% of young men between the ages of 11 and 20 who are serving
time for homicide have killed their mothers' abusers.
Children witness almost 75% of domestic violence attacks. Of these
children, 40% suffer anxiety, 48% suffer depression, and 75% of
those over the age of 15 report two attempts to run away from
home in the last year.
The greatest single cause of injury to 14-year-old boys in this
country comes from interposing themselves between batterers and
their mothers.
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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; the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic
Violence.
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