Warsaw Police Department records reflect that in 2011 there were more than 300 reported incidents within the city of Warsaw alone of domestic violence and other related violence.
The incidents include rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, battery, intimidation, threats and child abuse and neglect.
Domestic violence, also known as intimate partner violence, can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, orientation, socio-economic status or other factors.
Violent acts can take place anywhere – home, school, workplace, salon, fitness gym, hospital, health clinic, church or shopping centers.
One in four women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime.
Women are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than men. Every year, one in three women who is a victim of homicide is murdered by her partner.
Women experience more than 4 million physical assaults and rapes because of their partners, and men are victims of nearly 3 million physical assaults.
One in three teenagers has experienced violence in a dating relationship. At least 50 percent of teens have reported knowing others who were involved in violent relationships.
As many as 15 percent of teen girls and boys have reported being victims of severe dating violence (defined as being hit, thrown down or attacked with a weapon).
More than 3 million children each year witness domestic violence in their homes. In many cases, children who live in homes where there is domestic violence are also victims of abuse or neglect.
Children are more likely to intervene when they witness severe violence against a parent – which then places the child at great risk for injury or even death.
Girls who witness domestic violence are far more likely to become victims themselves, thus continuing the cycles of victimization. Boys who witness domestic violence are also far more likely to become abusers, of both their spouses/partners and their children, thus perpetuating the cycles of violence in their own homes.
Nearly 50 percent of homeless women and children are homeless because of domestic violence.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness among families.
In addition, domestic violence costs more than $37 billion a year in law enforcement involvement, legal work, medical and mental health treatment, and lost productivity at companies.
Becky Anglin is coordinator of the Victim Services program at the Warsaw Police Department. She can be contacted at 574-372-9539 or banglin@warsaw.in.gov
For more information, review the Victim Services section on the city’s website at www.warsaw.in.gov
Toll-Free Hotlines: National Domestic Violence 800-799-7233, National Center for Victims of Crime 800-394-225, National Child Abuse and Neglect 800-422-4453, National Sexual Assault 800-656-4673 and National Teen Dating Abuse 866-331-9474.
