by K Lochery

Created on: December 17, 2008

Domestic Violence is very often hidden away, and nobody knows about it. The women and men who suffer at the hands of their partners will make up every story under the sun just so they don't have to admit they have been a victim of domestic violence. On average, a person will have to suffer 35 counts of domestic violence before they finally come forward and do something about it! 35 is a massive number, and there should be more ways for somebody to talk about their experiences to ensure they know it is safe for them to get away from the situation they are in.

It is very rarely a one off incident. It may start off very irregularly, but in so many cases, it gets more and more frequent the more it is left to continue. It accounts to up to 20% of all violent crime. When you think about it, 20% is a lot. That means in every 100 people that are a victim of a violent crime, 20 of those crimes will have been committed by the victims partner.

It occurs across so many different societies, in so many different relationships, whether they be gay, straight, age, gender etc. We very often hear about a woman being beaten by her husband, but we very rarely hear about men being beaten by their wives, or the same happening in a same sex couple. Why is this?

The definition of Domestic Violence is, any incident where threatening behavior, violence or abuse has occurred within a relationship. If you think that you have been a victim of this, you should get help.

There are so many ways to get help, but in some ways, there is still not enough. There are help lines you can call, or refuges you can go to, but the first step is acknowledging the problem and wanting to do something about it.

Despite what you think, you can get out of an abusive relationship. I'm not going to lie, it won't necessarily be easy, but there are things you can do to make the situation easier on yourself. You need to decide to leave, nobody can make that decision for you. It has to be you that makes the first move because nothing can be done, regardless of who knows, if you decide not to leave or press charges or whatever.

There is so much support offered to victims of Domestic Violence, you don't have to go through this all by yourself, reach out for help and it will be there.

If you know of somebody who is being abused by their partner, you should make them aware that there are options available to them. You can't drag them out of the situation, but you can be a friend, and sometimes, a friend is the most important thing someone can have!

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