One out of four women in the US is severly beaten during the course of her marriage. In any one year, nearly six million wives will be abused by their husbands. A number of surveys in the UK show that between 1 in 3 and 1 in 4 report having suffered domestic violence at some time in their adult lives. Between one and two women are killed by their violent partners or ex-partners every week in England and Wales. Experts warn that that the two actions most likely to trigger deadly assault are moving out of a shared residence and beginning another relationship.
Domestic violence is the least likely violent crime to be reported to the police.
Women who suffer domestic violence are likely to under report incidents of abuse. Psychologists in the USA have found parallels between the effects of domestic violence on women and the impact of torture and imprisonment on hostages. All rights reserved.