October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

These are discouraging statistics because the sum of them suggest that there is shame and secrecy surrounding this issue. It's important to bring this issue out in the open and help those who need help the most.

• 22 percent of Americans report being victims of domestic violence; that's one in three women (30 percent), one in seven men (14 percent). Almost twice as many women as men report being a victim of domestic violence. In total, 54 million Americans are victims of domestic violence.
• 13 percent of Americans report being victims of sexual assault. That's 20 percent of women, 6 percent of men or 32 million people.
• 60 percent of Americans know a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault
• "Only 15 percent think it is a problem among their friends."
• 73 percent of parents with children under the age of 18 said that they have not talked with them about domestic violence or sexual assault
• 67 percent of Americans "have not talked about domestic violence with their friends."
• 73 percent "have not discussed sexual assault with their friends."
• Even though 75 percent of Americans say that they would step in and help a stranger being abused, the reality is most people do not help.
• Of the 70 percent of women who've experienced domestic violence and then told someone about it, 58 percent said that no one helped them.
• 64 percent of Americans say if we talk more about domestic violence and sexual assault, it would make it easier to help someone
• Men are less likely to discuss domestic violence than women

These statistics come from a new study "NO MORE Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Survey of Attitudes and Experiences of Teens and Adults," released yesterday by NO MORE, both an anti-domestic violence coalition and a symbol representing anti-domestic violence work. It was commissioned by the AVON Foundation for Women. It comes quick on the heels of a global study by the World Health Organization, which revealed outrageous levels of domestic and sexualized violence all over the world.

http://joyfulheartfoundation.org/news/60-percent-americans-know-survivor-domestic-abuse-or-sexual-assault-no-more-excuses