October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Hi all,
Did you know that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month? Did you know that there are 16 agencies in the state of Vermont that offer support and advocacy for survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence? Did you know that the Clarina Howard Nichols Center has been providing support and advocacy out of Lamoille County since 1981? If you or someone you know is being hurt by an intimate partner or a family member, there is help out there. For more information please call 1-800-228-7395 24 hours a day.

Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of abusive behavior that one person uses to gain and maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Tactics may include physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse, and isolation. Domestic violence does not consist of isolated violent incidents, but is rather a pattern of abusive strategies that impacts all aspects of a victim’s life. It can continue for a long time, often escalates in severity and may even end in homicide.

The Scope of Domestic Violence in Vermont
There were 8,692 victims of domestic violence served by VNADSV programs. [1]
538 survivors were housed in shelters and safehomes statewide in 2006 by the VT Network. [2]
9,119 children and youth were identified as having been exposed to domestic violence in their homes. 214 children were sheltered in Network Program shelters or Safehomes; 1,450 children received services in addition to shelter, and 293 children and youth under the age of 18 were victims of sexual violence.[3]
1,017 Vermonters with physical or emotional disabilities received services from Network Programs.[4]
Network Programs received and responded to 17,172 hotline crisis calls.[5]
The Vermont Department for Children and Families, Family Services Division received 1,596 intake calls that identified co-occurring domestic violence and child maltreatment. A total of 2,274 children were involved in these intakes. 360 of these intakes were opened for investigation which included a total of 516 children. [6]
The Office of Court Administrator reports for FY 2005 (6.04-6.05) that in Vermont Family Courts there were 3,642 Relief from Abuse petitions filed which resulted in 1,285 final orders and 9 transfers to other courts. [7]
45 Vermonters reported to police that they were kidnapped by an intimate partner. [8]
22 people were reported of raping their spouse, ex-spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend. [9]
40% of homicides were domestic violence related, 75% were murdered by their intimate partners and 25% by their ex-partners.[10]
Between 1994-2004, over half (52%) of homicides in Vermont were domestic violence related. When suicides are counted in this statistic, domestic violence related deaths increased to 64%.[11]
56% of domestic violence homicides were committed with firearms.[12]
....and in the US
Domestic violence affects more the 32 million Americans each year with more then two million injuries and claims and approximately 1,300 deaths according to a 2005 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
67 women are victimized by an intimate partner every hour.[13]
Domestic violence may occur in as many as one of every four families.[14]
The latest U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report on intimate partner violence found that 85% of victims are female.[15]
In 1993, men were victims of about 160,000 violent crimes by an intimate partner, and in 2002 men were victims of about 72,520 violent crimes by an intimate partner.[16]
1.5 million women are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States.[17]
The direct cost of medical treatment for battered women annually is estimated at $1.8 billion.[18]
In 30-60 % of the families affected by intimate partner violence, children are also directly abused.[19]