Time to SPEAK OUT!!

TIME TO SPEAK OUT BLOGGERS!!

Today, Friday November 18, 2011, Wine-n-Chat is proud to join the SPEAK OUT effort and bring world wide attention to Domestic Violence.  The fact is it happens, across our country, across our borders and across our world.  It is happening in your neighborhood, whether you realize it or not—and maybe it is happening to you.  Speak Out is a world-wide effort to speak out against domestic violence and bring awareness to people who may be in harms way—or perhaps they do not even realize they are a victim of domestic violence!  The goal of this post it to bring you some facts and insights—and encourage you to share this post with others.  You never know who might need the information or if that someone might be you.

What is domestic violence??  According to The Hotline.Org, this is their definition of domestic violence:

Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner.

Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure or wound someone.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion or gender. It can happen to couples who are married, living together or who are dating. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.

You can visit The Hotline.Org and learn more about domestic violence—they have a lot of information.

Here are some statistics about domestic violence according to the Domestic Violence Resource Center:

• One in four women (25%) has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime.
• Between 600,000 and 6 million women are victims of domestic violence each year, and between 100,000 and 6 million men, depending on the type of survey used to obtain the data.
• Nearly three out of four (74%) of Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence.

Please take some time to visit the Domestic Violence Resource Center to learn more about these statistics and other statistics related to domestic violence.

Did You know:

ABUSE AND CHILDREN:

(Facts below sourced by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence):

• Witnessing violence between one’s parents or caretakers is the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next.
• Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults. 
• 30% to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household.

EMOTIONAL ABUSE:

Emotional abuse is a type of domestic violence! It is one of many types of domestic violence.  Visit the National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence to learn them all.

(Facts sourced by National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence):

EMOTIONAL ABUSE:

This form of violence has the power to destroy the victim’s self-esteem over time. Although not as visible as physical or sexual violence, the scars of emotional and/or psychological abuse are traumatic and long lasting. This form of abuse is almost always present in families where physical and/or sexual domestic violence occur.

Intimidation, e.g. looks, gestures, yelling, smashing things or destroying the victim’s property, threats to harm a child or children or keep them from the victim, isolating the victim from family and friends and economic domination are common ways in which abusers cause emotional and/or psychological damage to their victims.

The biggest question is what can YOU do??

Awareness—know what comprises Domestic Violence.  If you know what it is, you can recognize it, and awareness is often the first step toward action.  If you have time, please check out some of the sources linked in this post—they are a wealth of information!

Action—join the Speak Out effort!!  Take your turn in speaking out against domestic violence.  ALSO:: Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble, Digg, etc.  There are multiple tools on this site alone to easily share this post—you never know who it might help in the long run.

Education—once you know what it is—learn to recognize the signs.  Know where to turn to for help should you or a friend need it!

The National Domestic Violence Hotline: (USA) 1-800-799-7233

The National Sexual Assault Hotline: (USA) 1-800-656-4673

The National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline: (USA) 1 866 331 9474

If you are in Immediate Danger, call 9-1-1 (USA)

Domestic violence—needs to STOP!! And it has to start with each of us.

Thank you for READING and SHARING this post and helping to Speak Out against domestic violence. 

Cheers,