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Here are some facts that should concern every person on the planet:
Jul 20, 2006
Domestic Violence

  Domestic violence is a serious problem around the world. It violates the fundamental human rights of women and often results in serious injury or death. While statistics vary slightly, women are victims of violence in approximately 95% of the cases of domestic violence. While women do use violence against intimate partners, women's use of violence is distinct from men's use of violence in historical, cultural, psychological, motivational and situational ways.
Statistics on the prevalence of the problem indicate that domestic violence is a worldwide epidemic. Studies show that between one quarter and one half of all women in the world have been abused by intimate partners. Worldwide, 40-70% of all female murder victims are killed by an intimate partner.

Many people view domestic violence as exclusively part of certain ethnic or racial communities, or as unique to certain classes, within their societies. In interviews that Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights conducted throughout the CEE/CIS region, for example, people often discussed domestic violence in terms of the race, ethnicity, class, education level or age of the abuser or victim. The group or community identified as the victims and perpetrators depended on the country and background of the person being interviewed. This myth conflicts with research that shows domestic violence occurs in all social, economic, religious and cultural groups.

Statistics relating to the prevalence of domestic violence are critical to any advocacy effort. Statistics can help document the need for certain programs or raise public awareness of the extent of the problem. International covenants signed by many CEE/CIS countries require signatories to collect statistics on domestic violence. For example, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women recommends that states parties "[p]romote research, collect data and compile statistics, especially concerning domestic violence, relating to the prevalence of different forms of violence against women and encourage research on the causes, nature, seriousness and consequences of violence against women and on the effectiveness of measures implemented to prevent and redress violence against women." Despite these requirements, statistical information on the prevalence of domestic violence throughout the world or in the CEE/CIS region is still difficult to obtain.

According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), one in every three women in the world has experienced sexual, physical, emotional or other abuse in her lifetime. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in forty-eight surveys from around the world, 10-69% of women stated that they had been physically assaulted by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. The WHO also reports that studies from a range of countries show that 40-70% of female murder victims were killed by an intimate partner. A 1997 UNICEF publication reports that between a quarter and one half of women around the world have suffered violence at the hands of an intimate partner. From Charlotte Bunch, The Intolerable Status Quo: Violence Against Women and Girls, The Progress of Nations 45 (UNICEF 1997), available in PDF and web format. Additional global statistics are available from the Family Violence Prevention Fund.

The Astra Network has reported that "29% of women in Romania, 22% in Russia and 21% in Ukraine, reported experience of spousal physical abuse" and that over 42% of all married and cohabiting women in Lithuania "reported that they have been victims of physical or sexual violence or threats of violence by their present partner," although only 10.6% of the Lithuanian respondents "reported the most serious incident to the police." From Astra Network, Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Health in Central and Eastern Europe. A national survey of 4,750 women between 15 and 44 in Moldova found over 7% had been physically assaulted by an intimate partner in the previous twelve months and over 14% had been assaulted at some time in a relationship. From Ending Violence Against Women, in Population Reports, vol. 7, no. 4 (December 1999). In Romania, 29% of adult women in a national survey reported having been physically assaulted by an intimate partner. From Violence Against Women: Effects on Reproductive Health, Outlook, vol. 20, no. 1 (September 2002).

The Network Women's Program reports that a survey of 1,000 women in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan found that over 89% had been abused by husbands, intimate partners, children or relatives. From Network Women's Program, Bending the Bow: Targeting Women's Human Rights and Opportunities, Open Society Institute 22 (2002). The Regional Committee for Europe notes that across the World Health Organization's European Region, between twenty and fifty percent of women have been subjected to one or more forms of gender-based violence. From World Health Organization, European Health Report (EUR/RC51/Conf.Doc./4), 31 (19 July 2001).

UNICEF reports the following statistics on domestic violence for three countries of CEE/CIS:

  • Estonia: 29% of women aged 18-24 fear domestic violence, and the share rises with age, affecting 52% of women 65 or older, according to a 1994 survey of 2,315 women.
  • Poland: 60% of divorced women surveyed in 1993 by the Centre for the Examination of Public Opinion reported having been hit at least once by their ex-husbands; an additional 25% reported repeated violence.
  • Tajikistan: 23% of 550 women aged 18-40 reported physical abuse, according to a survey.
From UNICEF, Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls, 6 Innocenti Digest 1, 5 (2000). The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, describing a recent study in Tajikistan in Women 2000: An Investigation into the Status of Women's Rights in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States 436 (2000), reported that 40% of women polled in the study stated that they had experienced domestic abuse.

In the United States, approximately 22.1% of all women have experienced some form of assault by an intimate partner. Each year, 4.5 million physical assaults are committed against women by intimate partners. From Patricia Tjaden & Nancy Thoennes, Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence 10 (U.S. Department of Justice 2000). In 1999, approximately 1,218 women—more than three women every day—were murdered by an intimate partner. In that same year, intimate partner homicides accounted for 32% of all murders of women. From U.S. Department of Justice, Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim 1993-1999 1 (2001). Research on domestic violence in Europe indicates that every day, one woman in five is a victim of domestic abuse.

If your children have witnessed the violence in your home, and even if you are no longer in an abusive relationship... here is why you should still be concerned:

  • Each year, an estimated 3.3 million children witness domestic violence.
  • Children in homes where domestic violence occurs are physically abused or seriously neglected at a rate 1500% higher than the national average in the general population.
  • Children from violent homes have higher risks of drug/alcohol abuse and juvenile delinquency.
  • Children in homes where domestic violence occurs may experience cognitive or language problems, developmental delay, stress-related physical ailments and hearing and speech problems.
  • Lenore Walker's 1984 study found that mothers were 8 times more likely to hurt their children when they were being battered than when they were safe from violence.
The bottom line is that even if you are not as concerned about your own plight as you could be... you should be very concerned about the clear danger to your children's present and future physical, emotional and social wellbeing.
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Posted: Jul 20, 2006 9:32am

 
 
 
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Barb PL
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