Zonta Club of Charleston

The Zonta Club of Charleston has chosen to focus on the prevention of violence against women and girls because DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS A CRIME.

Statistics are alarming!

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence:

- One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.

- An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year.

- 85% of domestic violence victims are women.

- Historically, females have been most often victimized by someone they knew.

- Females who are 20-24 years of age are at the greatest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence.

- In 2000, 1,247 women and 440 men were killed by an intimate partner. In recent years, an intimate partner killed approximately 33% of female murder victims and 4% of male murder victims.

- Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police.

CHILDREN WHO WITNESS

-Witnessing violence between one’s parents or caretakers is the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next.7

-Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults.8

-30% to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household.9

How much does this issue cost our society:

The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services.

Victims of intimate partner violence lost almost 8 million days of paid work because of the violence perpetrated against them by current or former husbands, boyfriends and dates. This loss is the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs and almost 5.6 million days of household productivity as a result of violence.

There are 16,800 homicides and $2.2 million (medically treated) injuries due to intimate partner violence annually, which costs $37 billion.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233

24 hr/7 days