Victims often suffer and sometimes die in silence.
And despite the intense media attention recently focused on a few high-profile courtroom dramas, the public remains largely uninformed about the nature and warning signs of domestic violence. This lack of information is compounded by the fact that victims are disproportionately those who fall into the lowest income bracket and who have the least access to social services, quality attorneys, and the media. To compile this pathfinder, the Center's research staff made a comprehensive review of a broad range of materials, including everything from transcripts of congressional hearings to feature films. The Center took a cross-disciplinary approach in carrying out its research, consulting experts in the fields of medicine, law, and social service. In the past, investigation in the field of domestic violence has been hampered by the existence of multiple definitions for domestic violence and other related terms.