The Realities of Domestic Violence and Its Impact on Our Society | Michele Nealon-Woods
A domestic or dating violence incident takes place every 24 minutes in the U.S. One in four women and one in seven men are victims of such violence.
Increasingly, we are becoming aware of the scope of the domestic violence problem and the extent to which it can and does impact an individual’s mental and physical health, and the overall mental health and well-being of a family. Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety are common among survivors, and a significant majority are at a higher risk than average for strokes, heart disease, asthma, and substance abuse.
The ripple effects, unfortunately, don’t stop there: Children who witness domestic violence can experience lifelong effects from poor performance in school to early death; domestic violence costs more than $5 billion in medical and mental health care each year, and an estimated 8 million days of paid work are lost annually because of domestic violence.
We must all come to terms with the prevalence of domestic violence and better understand the impact on families, society, and even our economy. We must also step up to support those who have experienced it and, as importantly, find ways to prevent it.
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