Another increasing factor is the abuse of drugs and alcohol. Nationally, it is estimated that 4 million women and children are abused each year, but it's the most unreported crime. So the cards are stacked against them. Children who come from an abusive home are two to three times more likely to become abusers, Einkauf said. They tend to become sexually promiscuous, think it's okay to be hit and become more violent.
Abuse eventually affects every person.
38 percent of all women killed in Texas are murdered by their intimate male partners. Being abused or neglected as a child in America increases the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53 percent, as an adult by 38 percent and for a violent crime by 38 percent. A mother's coping skills are worn out. Even under the best of circumstances it's hard to take care of children. Abused mothers are eight times more likely to abuse their children when they're not in a shelter, Patton said, which is a good reason for the new Crisis Nursery For Kids in Bryan.