Domestic Violence – Did you Know?

Domestic Violence – Did You Know??

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats, and emotional abuse. The frequency and severity of domestic violence can vary dramatically. Are you aware that on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States? During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men! Yes, men can be victims of domestic violence, too! Please look at the statistics for domestic violence in North Carolina shown below and learn what you can do to help stop the cycle!

• 9% of North Carolina women and 19.3% of North Carolina men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes.
• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
• On a typical day, domestic violence hotlines receive approximately 21,000 calls, approximately 15 calls every minute.
• Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.
• Abusers’ access to firearms increases the risk of intimate partner femicide at least five-fold. When firearms have been used in the most severe abuse incident, the risk increases 41-fold.
• 72% of all murder-suicides involved an intimate partner; 94% of the victims of these crimes are female.
• North Carolina law authorizes, but does not require, courts to prohibit respondents to final protective orders, including heterosexual dating partners, from purchasing firearms.
• Although North Carolina law does not explicitly authorize judges to prohibit respondents to final protective orders from possessing firearms or to require respondents to surrender their firearms, courts are authorized to order whatever relief they deem necessary to protect victims and survivors.

North Carolina can strengthen its laws to protect victims and survivors by …

• Prohibiting domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking misdemeanants from possessing firearms; Prohibiting respondents to ex parte, temporary, and final protective orders, including all dating partners, from possessing firearms.
• Requiring all persons prohibited due to domestic violence, dating violence and/or stalking to surrender their firearms.
• Requiring law enforcement to confiscate firearms when responding to domestic violence incidents; and
• Requiring background checks for all firearm sales and transfers.

For more information on domestic violence and how you can help, visit the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence at https://ncadv.org/statistics. If you need help: Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) Or, online go to TheHotline.org.

Domestic violence is something we should all be concerned with, be aware of, and try to lend helping hands whenever and however possible. Not all victims know how to ask for help. If we know someone who is affected by domestic violence, we can help be their voice to break the cycle. Are you ready and willing to help?