Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Domestic Violence — a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors, including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks as well as economic coercion, that adults or adolescents use against their intimate partners — is virtually impossible to measure due to many complications, including societal stigma that inhibits victims from disclosing their abuse.

Nearly one-third of American women (31%) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. Thirty percent of Americans say they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband or boyfriend in the past year.

While women are less likely than men to be victims of violent crimes overall, women are five to eight times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner.

The Social Work Response to Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence Assessment and Intervention provided by the Family Violence Prevention Fund
Violence Against Women Act
NASW Policy Statements