Domestic Violence and it Impacts

Domestic Violence; you hear about it everywhere. You hear about it on the streets, in the news, and for some, have experienced it. What is domestic violence exactly?

According to the US Department of Justice, Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, psychological, or technological actions or threats of actions or other patterns of coercive behavior that influence another person within an intimate partner relationship. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, more than 12 million people are victims of domestic abuse yearly. That is on average 24 people per minute. Women 18-34 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence. Most female victims of intimate partners are victimized by the same offender at rates of 77% for women 18-24, 76% for women 25-34, and 81% for women 35-49.

At times, there are more people involved than you know. Those people are children in the home. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 22% of domestic violence cases filed had a child witness the violence. 30-60 percent of intimate partner violence perpetrators also abuse children in the home. 40 percent of child victims also report experiencing domestic violence. One study found that children exposed to domestic violence were 15 times more likely to be physically or sexually assaulted than the national average. 

Domestic Violence can bring long-lasting impacts to victims. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, Domestic Violence survivors are 3 times more likely to meet the criteria for PTSD. Survivors are twice as likely to develop depression and 3 times more likely to develop a depressive disorder. Survivors are also 3 times more likely to self-harm. That leads to them also being 3 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and 4 times as likely to attempt suicide. Domestic Violence survivors are 3 times more likely to develop an anxiety disorder and 6 times more likely to have a substance abuse disorder.

Domestic violence is not only a situation for the victim, but also a situation where there are impacts on the family of the victim. Domestic violence also affects the workplace, It requires more off time for victims. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, domestic violence leads to 8 million lost work days. 96% of domestic violence victims experience problems at work because of the abuse. 

In our area, there are a few agencies that help domestic violence victims. In Knox and Daviess Counties, Hope’s Voice is an advocate for domestic violence victims. If you are involved in a domestic violence situation, you can call them at 812-899-4673. In Sullivan County, you can call CODA (Council on Domestic Violence) at 812-232-1736. Gibson and Pike Counties can contact the Albion Fellows Bacon Center at 812-422-5622. In Martin and Greene Counties, you can contact the Middle Way House at 812-336-0846. On the Illinois side, SWAN can be contacted at 1-888-715-6260.