The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that over one million women a year are victims of violence by husbands or boyfriends.
Domestic violence is a problem at all income levels.
Poor families, which frequently lack access to support networks, are especially vulnerable to the vicious cycle of domestic abuse. Family law, which includes the representation of victims of domestic violence, is the single largest category of cases handled by the 275 LSC grantees across the nation. More than one out of every three of the 1.4 million cases that LSC grantees closed in 1996 concerned family law. Approximately half of all LSC family and juvenile cases involve efforts to obtain relief from domestic violence for the client or a family member. More than one out of every six LSC cases involves efforts to obtain protection from domestic violence.