CHOICES FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

24 Hour Crisis Information Line
(614) 224-HOME [4663]
 
SAFETY ALERT Reminder! Your computer use can be monitored by your abuser. If you need more information about domestic violence or immediate assistance please call our 24 Hour Crisis & Information Hotline. (614) 224-HOME [4663] We understand and we can help.

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National Domestic Violence Hotline

1-800-799-7233 | 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)

http://www.thehotline.org/

GET HELP

Our highly trained expert advocates are available 24/7 to talk confidentially with anyone experiencing domestic violence, seeking resources or information, or questioning unhealthy aspects of their relationship.

GET INVOLVED

Making a difference in the lives of thousands of victims, survivors and their families is the best reason to give to the hotline. Every donation helps ensure someone is available to answer the most important call of a victim’s life.

STAY SAFE

Computer use can be monitored and is impossible to completely clear. If you’re afraid your internet/computer usage might be monitored, please use a safer computer, call your local hotline, or call our hotline. 

Tech & Social Media Safety

Technology is ever-changing, and it can be used to jeopardize your safety or as a means to keep you safe. Since power and control issues are a part of domestic violence, abusive partners frequently use technology to monitor and control those they abuse. Here are some things to help keep in mind as you use technology.

Do you have a feeling that you are being monitored? Here are some things to make note of.

·          Did you know that someone can monitor another person’s computer use without the user knowing?

·          Did you know that a “history” cannot be completely erased from a computer?

·          Did you know that cell phone use can be monitored?

·          Did you know that a global positioning system (GPS) can be placed on your car, in your purse or in your cell phone?

·          Did you know the some court systems are placing court records online and that they may contain personal information?

·          Did you know that e-mail is like a postcard and can be intercepted?

·          Did you know that you can find safe computers at www.ctcnet.org?

WHAT IS DATING VIOLENCE?

Dating violence is a pattern of abusive behaviors used to exert power and control over a dating partner.
 
A Pattern of Behavior

Calling dating violence a pattern doesn't mean the first instance of abuse is not dating violence. It just recognizes that dating violence usually involves a series of abusive behaviors over a course of time.

Every relationships is different, but the one thing that is common to most abusive dating relationships is that the violence escalates over time and becomes more and more dangerous for the young victim. 

Who Experiences Dating Violence?

Any teen or young adult can experience violence, abuse or unhealthy behaviors in their dating relationships. A relationship may be serious or casual, monogamous or not, short-term or long-term. Dating abuse does not discriminate – it does not see gender, sexual identity, economic status, ethnicity or religious preference. 

What Does Dating Violence Look Like?

Teens and young adults experience the same types of abuse in relationships as adults. This can include:

·         Physical Abuse: Any intentional use of physical force with the intent to cause fear or injury, like hitting, shoving, biting, strangling, kicking or using a weapon.

·         Verbal or Emotional Abuse: Non-physical behaviors such as threats, insults, constant monitoring, humiliation, intimidation, isolation or stalking.

·         Sexual Abuse: Any action that impacts a person’s ability to control their sexual activity or the circumstances in which sexual activity occurs, including rape, coercion or restricting access to birth control.

·         Digital Abuse: Use of technologies and/or social media networking to intimidate, harass or threaten a current or ex-dating partner. This could include demanding passwords, checking cell phones, cyber bullying, sexting, excessive or threatening texts or stalking on Facebook or other social media.

If you or a loved one is in a violent relationship, please get help. Visit loveisrespect for more information,chat with a peer advocate online, call 866.331.9474 or text "loveis" to 22522.

Ten Warning Signs of Abuse

While there are many warning signs of abuse, here are ten common abusive behaviors:

·         Checking your cell phone or email without permission

·         Constantly putting you down

·         Extreme jealousy or insecurity

·         Explosive temper

·         Isolating you from family or friends

·         Making false accusations

·         Mood swings

·         Physically hurting you in any way

·         Possessiveness

·         Telling you what to do

Break the Cycle

http://www.breakthecycle.org/content/safety-planning

If you or someone you know is ever in immediate crisis, call 911 or the National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline at 1.866.331.9474 toll free.

 

​Board of Directors

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NATIONAL STATISTICS

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 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been victims of [some form of] physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime. 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.1 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. 

RAPE

1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the United States has been raped in their lifetime.1
Almost half of female (46.7%) and male (44.9%) victims of rape in the United States were raped by an acquaintance. Of these, 45.4% of female rape victims and 29% of male rape victims were raped by an intimate partner.11

STALKING

19.3 million women and 5.1 million men in the United States have been stalked in their lifetime.1 60.8% of female stalking victims and 43.5% men reported being stalked by a current or former intimate partner.11

HOMICIDE

A study of intimate partner homicides found that 20% of victims were not the intimate partners themselves, but family members, friends, neighbors, persons who intervened, law enforcement responders, or bystanders.3
72% of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner; 94% of the victims of these murder suicides are female.8

CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to this violence.5

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Victims of intimate partner violence lose a total of 8.0 million days of paid work each year.6
The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $8.3 billion per year.6
Between 21-60% of victims of intimate partner violence lose their jobs due to reasons stemming from the abuse.6
Between 2003 and 2008, 142 women were murdered in their workplace by their abuser, 78% of women killed in the workplace during this timeframe.4

PHYSICAL/MENTAL IMPACT

Women abused by their intimate partners are more vulnerable to contracting HIV or other STI’s due to forced intercourse or prolonged exposure to stress.
Studies suggest that there is a relationship between intimate partner violence and depression and suicidal behavior.
Physical, mental, and sexual and reproductive health effects have been linked with intimate partner violence including adolescent pregnancy, unintended pregnancy in general, miscarriage, stillbirth, intrauterine hemorrhage, nutritional deficiency, abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal problems, neurological disorders, chronic pain, disability, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as noncommunicable diseases such as hypertension, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Victims of domestic violence are also at higher risk for developing addictions to alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.

National Statistics

Domestic Violence and Physical Abuse

Domestic Violence and Psychological Abuse

Domestic Violence and Economic Abuse

Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse

Domestic Violence and Stalking

Dating Violence and Teen Domestic Violence

Male Victims of Intimate Partner Violence

Domestic Abuse in Later Life

Domestic Violence and Guns


Additional Topics

Who is Doing What to Whom?

Why do Women Use Force or Violence in Intimate Partner Relationships?

Additional Sources for Statistics on Domestic Violence

Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Violence & Stalking (CDC)

Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Data on Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Violence, and Stalking

National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey Summary Report (2010)

Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization — National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011