Did you know that 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime? And 1 in 7 men will as well.

The United States Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women defines domestic violence as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner [that] can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “The costs of intimate partner rape, physical assault, and stalking exceed $5.8 billion each year, nearly $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health care services. The total costs of intimate partner violence also include nearly $0.9 billion in lost productivity from paid work and household chores for victims of nonfatal intimate partner violence and $0.9 billion in lifetime earnings lost by victims of intimate partner violence homicide. The largest proportion of the costs is derived from physical assault victimization because that type of intimate partner violence is the most prevalent. The largest component of intimate partner violence -related costs is health care, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the total costs.” Victims of severe domestic violence lose around 8 million days of paid work, which is the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs-and almost 5.6 million days of household productivity each year.

Here in Northwest Arkansas, last year alone, there were approximately 37,000 reported cases of child abuse and neglect in Arkansas – almost twice the seating capacity of Bud Walton Arena.

It is because of statistics like these that the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas chose domestic violence awareness and prevention as our community focus area.

Domestic violence is….

• A deterrent to a thriving, productive workforce & economy
• Any physical harm or threat
• Any sexual harm or threat of harm
• Any psychological/emotional harm or threat of harm
• A threat to public safety
• Transferable as a behavior to model from one generation to the next
• Elder abuse/violence
• Intimate partner abuse/violence
• Child abuse, violence, or neglect
• Sibling abuse/violence

#1 FACT: Most domestic violence incidents are never reported.