No longer can domestic violence be regarded as a private issue or a family matter. Employers and the business world are beginning to understand the impact it has on their own bottom lines. They are beginning to address the issue of domestic violence out of compassion, to retain talented employees, reduce the negative impact on their profits and avoid or minimize liability. A woman is battered every 9 seconds in this country. By the time you finish reading this article, another fourteen women will have been beaten.
Domestic violence is one of the most pervasive, yet under-reported, crimes in America.
It is likely at least one or more of these women either are or have been victims of intimate violence. The American Medical Association tells us that more than six million women are beaten every year. In fact, one of every three women in this country will experience partner violence at some point in their lifetime. Because almost half of the workforce in this country consists of women, a battered woman is most often a working woman. You are being financially assaulted by a milieu of hidden costs that either you or your business managers probably have not yet detected.