The Impact Of Domestic Violence And Its Effects On Children

Domestic Violence uses to be something that was hidden. It was swept under the rug and never talked about. What happened in one 's home was their business and it stayed that way, until about the mid 90’s. Now there are many laws, programs and domestic violence advocates to help women get away from their abusive partners and potentially save their lives. Unfortunately, the majority of those women have children according to UNICEF in 2006; 133-275 million children worldwide are witnesses to this violent crime a year. In the United states alone 15.5 million children live in homes where domestic violence is prevalent (Murrell, Christoff, and Henning, 2007). We know that domestic violence has a huge impact on a women 's life but little is talked about when it comes to the effects it has on the children that have seen it. What is the impact on …show more content…
department of justice is the leading cause of injuries to women age 15-44 and are account for 1/3 of the total women murders in the United States (Murrell, Christoff, and Henning, 2007). Half of the women who are victims have children under the age of 12, who witness this horrific crime. Here is an explanation of what it is to be a domestic violence witness. To be a witness it does not mean that you had to actually see the violent episode occur. Many children have explained that they heard the violent event, but did not actually see it. Children also may have just seen the outcome of the violent episode, such as broken items, bruises, or their mother 's depression (Meltzer, Doos, Vostanis, Ford and Goodman, 2009). To see someone they love endure the physical pain, humiliation, and fear has a significant impact on children from a very young age. The sad truth is that at times these children are not just the witnesses, about half of the men that abuse their significant other also abuse their child or other children that are in the home (Murrell, Christoff, and Henning