Health and Fitness : October is Domestic Awareness Month

If someone you know is in an abusive relationship, step in and do what you can to help. That might mean opening your home. It might mean things will get ugly for a bit, but it also means that you could save a life. 

If you are in an abusive relationship, this is for you. Be strong, be brave. You don't deserve the abuse. 

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October is domestic violence awareness month and I wanted to share some statistics with you.

Almost 3 in 10 women, and 1 in 10 men are victims of domestic violence or intimate partner violence. women who experience domestic violence are two times more likely to have chronic illness and five times more likely to have coronary heart disease.

Between 30-60% of perpetrators will also be abusive and violent towards children in the home. Survivors of DV are three times more likely to have suicidal ideation and four more times likely to act on it. Women in the US are 10 times more likely to be killed by a firearm than in other “high-income” nations; they are more likely to die at the hands of a firearm than all other methods combined. Women ages 18-34 have the highest rates of intimate partner violence.

Intimate partner violence accounts for almost half of all homicide cases with female victims. In 2/3-3/4 of all intimate partner homicides, the male had been previously abusive (regardless of if it was the woman or the man who ultimately died); between 67-80% of victims of intimate partner violence experienced physical abuse prior to their murder.

Statistically, we all know people who are perpetrators of intimate partner violence. Things that may seem normal, like blowing someone’s phone up, can very easily cross the line into abuse. For example, stalking is defined as “repeated surveillance, unwanted communication, and threatening or intimidating behavior by a current or former intimate partner;” in everyday life, that can look like driving by someone’s house and work, texting, calling, or emailing them repeatedly, making vague threats about hurting them or yourself, and overall ignoring the discomfort of the person being watched so closely.

So how does this impact you? Well, 1 in 3 men admit to using some sort of violence and intimidation in their intimate relationships and there is no evidence to indicate that class, race, etc. would impact a man’s likelihood to commit intimate partner violence. Look critically at the behavior of those around you, as well as yourself; these statistics make it clear that everyone is impacted by domestic violence, and some of us are incredibly impacted by DV.

I will leave you with a 2019 quote from MP Rosie Duffield during reading of a Domestic Abuse Bill:

“It is only later [in the relationship], when the door to your home is locked, that you really start to learn what power and control look and feel like. That is when you learn that ‘I’ll always look after you,’ ‘I’ll never let you go,’ and ‘You’re mine for life’ can sound menacing, and are used as a warning over and over again.”