Domestic Violence

By Betsy Curry
In the United States a woman is raped every six minutes; a woman is battered every 15 seconds. Violence against women does not only occur in the United States; violence is a global pandemic. In North Africa, 6,000 women are genitally mutilated each day. Two hundred women in Bangladesh will be horrifically disfigured when their husbands or boyfriends burn them with acid.

Women are often a target of violence through discrimination. Women are viewed as weak, feeble and unable to fight back. They often find themselves as a “punching bag” to a more dominate male.

Violence is an often-overlooked crisis. Nearly one in three women will experience violence during her lifetime, most often at the hands of someone she knows.

Domestic violence is a more frequent cause of serious injury to women than car wrecks, mugging and stranger-rapes combined. Husbands or boyfriends are the result of 30 to 40 percent of all women killed in the United States.

Starting in October 1987, Domestic Violence Awareness Month was brought about in hopes to bring public awareness to domestic violence. Too often, domestic violence is overlooked because the women reluctantly refuse to report to the police.

Women more often than men are at the receiving end of domestic violence. There are many different types of violence such as physical abuse, sexual assault and threats. More often than not, the violence can also be mental such as making someone feel worthless, not letting them have any money, or not allowing them to leave the home. Emotional abuse can leave just as much of an effect as physical violence.

Domestic violence occurs everywhere in the United States; West Virginia is no exception. In West Virginia, domestic homicide occur every 10 days and one woman is raped everyday. In addition, 33 percent of all murders are a result of domestic violence. West Virginia ranks second-highest in the nation for domestic-violence incidents.

Anyone who is a victim of domestic violence is encouraged to contact the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence Central Service Office in Charleston, WV, at 965-3552 or the Family Crisis Intervention Center in Parkersburg, WV, at 428-2333, hotline (800) 794-2335.