You are not the darkness you endured.
You are the light that refused to surrender.
– John Mark Green

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another.

That’s it in a nutshell. You may want to read that again.

The frequency and severity of domestic violence can vary dramatically; however, the one constant component of domestic violence is one partner’s consistent efforts to maintain power and control over the other. It is important to note that victims of domestic abuse may also include a child, other relatives, or any other household member.

Domestic violence is an epidemic affecting individuals in every community regardless of age, economic status, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, or nationality. It is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior that is only a fraction of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Multiple forms of abuse are usually present at the same time in abusive situations, and it’s essential to understand how these behaviors interact so you know what to look for. The devastating physical, emotional, and psychological consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and last a lifetime. 

It is not always easy to determine in the early stages of a relationship if a person will become abusive. Domestic violence intensifies over time. Abusers may often seem wonderful and perfect initially, but gradually become more aggressive and controlling as the relationship continues. Ending the stigma of domestic violence requires a nuanced understanding of the behaviors that define it.

I wrote a course calle ‘Understanding Domestic Violence’. It is available to all who would like to understand what DV looks like in themselves or other people. It could be your child, a mother, a friend, a sister or a brother because what we know is that it doesn’t discriminate. You can check out the course through the following link. The cost is $15 USD all of which goes to our nonprofit.

Understanding Domestic Violence Couse

• Did you know that Domestic abuse affects 1 in 4 women?
• Domestic violence affects 1 in 9 men.
• On Average 20 People per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the USA.
• This is over 20 Million people a year.
• Intimate partner violence is 15% of all crimes in the USA.
• 20% of all women in the USA have been raped.
• The Domestic Violence Hotline receives over 20K calls a day.
• You are not alone. Domestic Violence does not discriminate across financial, racial, sexual, intellectual, or religious lines.
  
  
  For more Stat’s keep reading:

• On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.
  
• 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contact sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking with impacts such as injury, fearfulness, post-traumatic stress disorder, use of victim services, contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, etc.
  
• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. This includes a range of behaviors (e.g. slapping, shoving, pushing) and in some cases might not be considered “domestic violence.”
  
• 1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner.
  
• 1 in 10 women have been raped by an intimate partner. Data is unavailable on male victims.
  
• 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence (e.g. beating, burning, strangling) by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

• 1 in 7 women and 1 in 18 men have been stalked by an intimate partner during their lifetime to the
  point in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed.
  
• On a typical day, there are more than 20,000 phone calls placed to domestic violence hotlines nationwide.
  
• The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%.
  
• Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.
  
• Women between the ages of 18-24 are most commonly abused by an intimate partner.
  
• 19% of domestic violence involves a weapon.
  
• Domestic victimization is correlated with a higher rate of depression and suicidal behavior.
• Only 34% of people who are injured by intimate partners receive medical care for their injuries.

Statistics from The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)

For anonymous, confidential help available 24/7, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline
 at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY).

Nomore.org Global Resource Directory: https://nomoredirectory.org/