The Family Violence Prevention Fund has chosen ten sites in nine states for a groundbreaking two-year violence prevention initiative designed to improve the health and safety of women and children. The campaign is funded by the Office on Women’s Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. According to the campaign, it will find news ways to identify, respond to, and prevent domestic and sexual violence, and promote an improved health response to abuse.
Domestic violence and emotional abuse are defined as: behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other. Partners may be married or not married; heterosexual, gay, lesbian, living together, separated or dating. In addition, violence can be criminal and includes physical assault (hitting, pushing, shoving, ect.), sexual abuse (unwanted or forced sexual activity). Although emotional, psychological and financial abuse are not criminal behaviors, they are forms of abuse and can lead to criminal violence.
In addition, there are many myths that surround domestic violence. Therefore, one thing that everyone should is that it can happen to anyone. Victims can be of any age, sex, race, culture, religion, education, employment or marital status.
Research suggests a trend among domestic violence relationships and it has become known as “The Cycle of Violence.”
Incident
- Any type of abuse occurs (physical/sexual/emotional)
Tension Building
- Abuser starts to get angry
- Abuse may begin
- There is a breakdown of communication
- Victim feels the need to keep the abuser calm
- Tension becomes too much
- Victim feels like they are ‘walking on egg shells’
Making-Up
- Abuser may apologize for abuse
- Abuser may promise it will never happen again
- Abuser may blame the victim for causing the abuse
- Abuser may deny abuse took place or say it was not as bad as the victim claims
Calm
- Abuser acts like the abuse never happened
- Physical abuse may not be taking place
- Promises made during ‘making-up’ may be met
- Victim may hope that the abuse is over
- Abuser may give gifts to victim
Adapted from the original concept of: Walker, Lenore. The Battered Woman. New York: Harper and Row, 1979.
Many people believe domestic violence to be a family problem; however, it is a full-blown public health problem that affects the health and well-being of millions of women and children worldwide. Research has shown a direct link from domestic violence to adverse maternal, perinatal and infant health outcomes.
According to the CDC about a quarter of U.S women suffer domestic violence. In addition, the CDC estimates that 1,200 women are killed and 2 million injured in domestic violence annually. Therefore, prevention campaigns like the one being implemented nationwide have become a necessary means for combating the dangerously high rates of domestic violence.
To learn more about domestic violence and warning signs check out this video:
Posted on May 11, 2010
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