Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Opinion

Opinion Columnist: Chelsea Lankes

We are no strangers to domestic violence. It is a vicious cycle that is recurring generation after generation, and is yet to be broken. Statistics of domestic violence are alarming. Here are a few numbers: 73 percent of domestic violence victims are female, 1,200 women are killed by an intimate partner every year, 73 percent of domestic violence incidents go unreported and 61 percent of those incidents remain unreported because victims think the police won't believe them. Also, 8.8 million children witness domestic violence every year, 30 percent of children abused suffer an increase in their chances of being arrested for violent acts as an adult, 1.8 billion dollars of wages and productivity are lost to domestic violence, $4.1 billion is spent yearly on medical and mental health care as a direct result of domestic violence and 1 million calls have been made to the national domestic violence hotline since 1996.

Domestic violence is not just a demon that has invaded homes and pervaded families behind closed doors, it has a ripple effect. Violence will only lead to more violence. Victims are not only physically abused, but emotionally as well. This can affect their mindset and ability to flee from such a situation. Some women blame themselves for being battered. Abuse is a behavior, which means it is always a choice.

The root problems of domestic violence are harbored in the need for power and control, or for growing up in a cycle of violence and abuse and, for men abusers, it is a skewed view of manhood. Not all victims of domestic violence are women and children, however - men can experience abuse from their intimate partner as well. Fifteen percent of domestic abuse victims are men.

Domestic abuse has been around for centuries, but only in recent years has it become a public health problem. More awareness has been brought to the public, making it easier for victims to get help, thereby living their lives outside the cycle of abuse. There are feasible solutions to getting out of homes that harbor domestic violence. Bottom line is, if you are being abused; don't be afraid to get help. There are readily available options for receiving the protection needed to begin a life without violence.

- Chelsea Lankes is a junior communication major.

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