Domestic Violence

Who Are The Victims?

MOST VICTIMS ARE WOMEN.

· A large majority of all reported victims are women.

· Teen-aged, pregnant and elderly women are especially at risk.

CHILDREN CAN BE DIRECT OR INDIRECT VICTIMS.

· They may be battered themselves.

· They may be forced to see their parent battered in front of them.

· The batterer may use threats to harm them as a means of controlling the victim.

· They grow up seeing battery as the natural way for domestic partners to relate to each other.

· They grow up in an insecure environment filled with tension and violence.

TEENAGERS EXPERIENCE DATING VIOLENCE.

· Teenagers are just as vulnerable to relationship violence and it is just as dangerous.

· Teenagers may not seek help because they distrust adults.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CAN ALSO OCCUR IN GAY AND LESBIAN HOUSEHOLDS.

· Gay and lesbian relationships are not immune to the pattern of abusive and coercive behaviors that constitute domestic violence.

· Victims may not seek help because they fear that no one will believe that violence occurs in gay and lesbian relationships.

ELDERLY FAMILY MEMBERS CAN BE VICTIMS.

· They may be battered by their adult children or caretakers.

· They may be physically unable to defend themselves or escape from the abuse.

· They may be physically or mentally unable to report the abuse to anyone.

VICTIMS ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR THE VIOLENCE

· Studies have found no characteristic link between personality type and being a victim.

· Victims cannot stop the abuse by simply changing how they behave.