LAKE STEVENS FAMILY SUPPORT CENTER

What is Domestic Violence?

Domestic Violence is abuse by one person in a current or former intimate relationship in order to maintain power and control over the other person.  The abuse can take many forms, including physical, sexual, verbal, social, economic, emotional, psychological, and environmental.  It is:

• Learned behavior
• Often repeated and escalated
• Coercive and targeted
• Present in all ages, races, ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations, religions, economic levels, and educational levels; and it
• Creates an environment of fear and intimidation

It effects both parties involved, their children, their families, and their friends.
No one deserves to be abused.

Snohomish County Human Services information on Domestic Violence

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Characteristics of Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence comes in many forms.
Some typical situations include*:

• Regular criticism, name-calling, put-downs.
• Minimized or belittled feelings - unequal relationships
• Unsafe or fearful feelings
• It is NOT okay for you to say 'no.'
• Hitting, punching, slapping, kicking, shoving, strangling, or biting
• Destroying and/or stealing personal belongings
• Abusing or threatening children and grandchildren
• Use of intimidation or manipulation as a means of control over a victim or his/her children
• Isolation from friends, family, and community
• Threats of "outing" or criticism of sexual identity
• Do you feel like your "walking on eggshells" or that you cant ever do anything right?
• Threats to hurt the victim's friends, family, or pets
• Control of access to money, food or transportation
• Needing to ask "permission" to make choices for yourself
• Repercussions for a victim going where he/she wants when he/she wants
• Deportation or immigration status threats
• Prevention from working or attending school
• Harassment at school or work
• Public or private humiliation
• Denial of food, clothing, sleep, or medications
• Practice or accusations of affairs
• Forceful or unconsensual sexual acts
• Use of weapons to hurt or threaten
• Does your partner tell you that you wont or cant leave because you cant take care of yourself or your children without him/her?
• Do you ever wonder if you are in an abusive relationship, frequently ask yourself "why am I in this relationship" or wish something would happen to release you from your relationship?
  

If you find yourself experiencing one or more of these indicators, you may be in an abusive relationship. 
Please call for information and assistance and find someone to talk with! 
There is information and resources available at the Lake Stevens Family Center and in Snohomish County for you and your children to seek support and guidance.  (425)397-7433

 
*Modified from a publication by the Eastside Domestic Violence Program, http://www.edvp.org/ and
Snohomish County Human Services http://www.co.snohomish.wa.us/documents/Departments/Human_Services/violence_prevention/dv_characteristics.pdf

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Domestic and Sexual Violence Resources for People of All Ages

NOTE: Neither the Lake Stevens Family Center nor Lutheran Community Services are not responsible for the content of these external websites.

Women to Women: Domestic Violence Survivor Peer Support:   http://www.abusiverelationshipsurvival.com                                                                                                    Open Discussion forum for support and networking.

National HOTLINE: 1-800-799-SAFE; http://www.ndvh.org/

WA State HOTLINE:  1-800-562-6025

Providence Health & Services - Intervention Center for Assault and Abuse
Promoting emotional and physical healing for people victimized by sexual violence
http://www.providence.org 
24-Hour Crisis Line:  425-252-4800     
Main Office 425-388-7408

Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County:
24-hour HOTLINE: 425-25-ABUSE (425-252-2873) 
Local information/referral: 425-259-2827; http://www.dvs-snoco.org/index

Faith Trust Institute:
A faith-based information (all faiths) on Domestic Violence
206-634-1903 (Non-Emergency)

Northwest Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse:
206-568-7777 (Non-Emergency); TTY Message: 206-517-9670; http://www.nwnetwork.org

Teen Domestic and Dating Violence
YWCA and Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County
Call (425)258-2766 X119 - Jenny; for more information
Support Group meetings every Tuesday evening from 5pm - 6:30pm

Dawsons Place Child Advocacy Center
A comprehensive multidisciplinary team serving child victims of sexual or physical abuse in Snohomish County.
Dawsons Place also has resource and contact information to assist you in finding additional child services.

425-388-749; http://dawsonplace.org

Children's Domestic Violence - In Home Education, Support and Advocacy
Providing services to children ages 3-18 who have been traumatized by Domestic Violence
YWCA - (425)258-2766 X119 - Jenny

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Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County (DVS) reminds you that

If you are a victim of domestic violence...

Please know you are not alone.  Service, information, and help is available.

How to Get Help

• In an emergency, call 911 for the police, get yourself and your children to a safe place, seek medical attention and call DVS for assistance.
• Be sure to take the problem seriously, it can happen again.
• Create a safety plan for you and your children. 
  
• The Domestic Violence Prevention Act allows victims to get legal protection without an attorney.
  
• Consider filing a police report. If no arrest is made, you may consider filing charges in a citizen's complaint.
• Save evidence such as photographs of bruises and other injuries, ripped, clothing, etc.

Know that options are available. 
You can confidentially call The Lake Stevens Family Center for a list of resources and supports 425-397-7433.

You can confidentially call the 24-hour Crisis Hotline number at Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County, 425-252-2873. (collect calls are accepted)

You can get more information on creating a Safety Plan, finding the court nearest you, and additional advocacy and guidance at:  HOW TO FIND HELP

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STATISTICS
Prevalence of Domestic Violence taken from the American Bar Association website:

Domestic Abuse is NOT Age Specific

Domestic Violence &
Children

• Slightly more than half of female victims of intimate violence live in households with children under age 12.
  

• A recent study of low-income pre-school children in Michigan found that nearly half (46.7 percent) of the children in the study had been exposed to at least one incident of mild or severe violence in the family. Children who had been exposed to violence suffered symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as bed-wetting or nightmares, and were at greater risk than their peers of having allergies, asthma, gastrointestinal problems, headaches and flu.
  

• Battered women are not the only victims of abuse - it is estimated that anywhere between 3.3 million and 10 million children witness domestic violence annually. Research demonstrates that exposure to violence can have serious negative effects on children's development.
  

• One study of 2,245 children and teenagers found that recent exposure to violence in the home was a significant factor in predicting a child's violent behavior.
  

• Children exposed to Intimate Partner Violence were 1.6 times as likely to score in the borderline to clinical level range on externalizing behaviors relative to children of similar age and sex (as measured on three scales of internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and social competence according to the standardized psychometric instrument of Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist, or CBCL).
  

• Children exposed to maternal Intimate Partner Violence, without experiencing child maltreatment, were 40% more likely to have a total behavioral problem score within the borderline to clinical range than CBCL normative children.
  

Teens

• 18-24 year-olds comprised only 11.7% of the population in 1998 and 2002, but were the majority of victims of violence committed by a boyfriend or girlfriend (42%).
  

• Approximately one in five female high school students reports being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner.
  

• In a study of eighth and ninth graders, 25 percent indicated that they had been victims of dating violence, including eight percent who disclosed being sexually abused
  

• In a survey of 232 high school girls, 17.8% of the participants indicated that they had been forced to engage in sexual activity against their will by a dating parner.
  

• Among female students between the ages of 15-20 who reported at least one violent act during a dating relationship, 24% reported experiencing extremely violent incidents such as rape or the use of weapons against them.

• Girls who reported that they had been sexually or physically abused were more than twice as likely as non abused girls to report smoking (26% versus 10%), drinking (22% versus 12%), and using illegal drugs (30% versus 13%). In addition, 32 percent of girls who had been abused reported bingeing and purging, compared to 12 percent of girls who had not been abused.

• In a study of 724 adolescent mothers between the ages of 12-18, one of every eight pregnant adolescents reported having been physically assaulted by the father of her baby during the preceding 12 months. Of these, 40 percent also reported experiencing violence at the hands of a family member or relative.

•   Physical agression occurs in 1 in 3 teen dating relationships.

• Fifty to eighty percent of teens report knowing someone involved in a violent relationship.
  

Elders

• According to the best available estimates, between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for protection.
  

• Estimates of the frequency of elder abuse range from 2% to 10% based on various sampling, survey methods, and case definitions.
  

• Data on elder abuse in domestic settings suggest that 1 in 14 incidents, excluding incidents of self-neglect, come to the attention of authorities.
  

• Current estimates put the overall reporting of financial exploitation at only 1 in 25 cases, suggesting that there may be at least 5 million financial abuse victims each year.
  

• It is estimated that for every one case of elder abuse, neglect, exploitation, or self neglect reported to authorities, about five more go unreported.
  

• In 1996, nearly 450,000 adults aged 60 and over were abused and/or neglected in domestic settings. Factoring in self neglect, the total number of incidents was approximately 551,000.
  

• In 2003, state Long Term Care Ombudsman programs nationally investigated 20,673 complaints of abuse gross neglect, and exploitation on behalf of nursing home and board and care residents. Among seven types of abuse categories, physical abuse was the most common type reported.

Domestic Abuse is not Gender Specific

Spousal or Domestic Partner Abuse

• In a 1995-1996 study conducted in the 50 States and the District of Columbia, nearly 25% of women and 7.6% of men were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or dating partner/acquaintance at some time in their lifetime (based on survey of 16,000 participants, equally male and female).

• Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States.
  

• Intimate partner violence made up 20% of all nonfatal violent crime experienced by women in 2001.
  

• Intimate partners committed 3% of the nonfatal violence against men.
  

• In 2000, 1,247 women and 440 men were killed by an intimate partner. In recent years, an intimate partner killed approximately 33% of female murder victims and 4% of male murder victims.
  

• Of females killed with a firearm, almost two-thirds were killed by their intimate partners. The number of females shot and killed by their husband or intimate partner was more than three times higher than the total number murdered by male strangers using all weapons combined in single victim/single offender incidents in 2002.
  

• Of the almost 3.5 million violent crimes committed against family members, 49% of these were crimes against spouses.
• 84% of spouse abuse victims were females, and 86% of victims of dating partner abuse at were female.
• Males were 83% of spouse murderers and 75% of dating partner murderers
• 50% of offenders in state prison for spousal abuse had killed their victims. Wives were more likely than husbands to be killed by their spouses: wives were about half of all spouses in the population in 2002, but 81% of all persons killed by their spouse. 

Domestic Violence is MORE than getting beaten

Stalking
According to the Stalking Resource Center:

• 1,006,970 women and 370,990 men are stalked annually in the United States.
• 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime.
• 77% of female and 64% of male victims know their stalker.
• 87% of stalkers are men.
• 59% of female victims and 30% of male victims are stalked by an intimate partner.
• 81% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also physically assaulted by that partner.
• 31% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also sexually assaulted by that partner.
• The average duration of stalking is 1.8 years.
• If stalking involves intimate partners, the average duration of stalking increases to 2.2 years.
• 61% of stalkers made unwanted phone calls; 33% sent or left unwanted letters or items; 29% vandalized property; and 9% killed or threatened to kill a family pet.
• 28% of female victims and 10% of male victims obtained a protective order. 69% of female victims and 81% of male victims had the protection order violated.
• 76% of femicide victims had been stalked by the person who killed them.
• 67% had been physically abused by their intimate partner.
• 89% of femicide victims who had been physically abused had also been stalked in the 12 months before the murder.
• 79% of abused femicide victims reported stalking during the same period that they reported abuse.
• 85% of attempted femicide cases involved at least one episode of stalking within 12 months prior to the attempted femicide.
• 54% of femicide victims reported stalking to police before they were killed by their stalkers.

Sexual Assault
According to the National Violence Against Women Survey:

• Women are more likely to be victims of sexual violence than men: 78% of the victims of rape and sexual assault are women and 22% are men.
• Most perpetrators of sexual violence are men. Among acts of sexual violence committed against women since the age of 18, 100% of rapes, 92% of physical assaults, and 97% of stalking acts were perpetrated by men. Sexual violence against men is also mainly male violence: 70% of rapes, 86% of physical assaults, and 65% of stalking acts were perpetrated by men.
• In 8 out of 10 rape cases, the victim knows the perpetrator. Of people who report sexual violence, 64% of women and 16% of men were raped, physically assaulted, or stalked by an intimate partner.

• Another national survey found that 34% of women were victims of sexual coercion by a husband or intimate partner in their lifetime.

• Married immigrant women experience higher levels of physical and sexual abuse than unmarried immigrant women, 59.5 percent compared to 49.8 percent, respectively.

For additional statistical information regarding the above listed content and more facts on Domestic Violence please visit:
 http://www.abanet.org/domviol/statistics.html