Every nine seconds, a woman is battered. Repetitive abuse occurs in 25 percent of all ongoing relationships, including those of teenagers. While physical abuse is the most obvious form of domestic violence, sexual abuse, emotional violence in the form of threats, psychological battering, even destruction of property or pets comprise the circle of pain victims endure.
Domestic violence crosses every economic, social, and racial barrier.
It may be happening in your family. It has happened in mine. I grew up in a family of storytellers, and one of the stories I heard involved my grandmother's niece, who was a young woman during the Depression. It was a true story with enough romance to strike a young girl's fancy, enough mystery to intrigue, enough tragedy to trouble the heart. There was, however, no supposition of guilt.