Domestic Violence and Child Abuse

About Domestic Violence and Child Abuse

In a national survey of over 6,000 American families, 50% of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.
(Straus, M.A. & Gelles, R.J. (eds.). Physical violence in American families. New Brunswick, NJ, Transaction Publishers. 1990.)

Child abuse is 15 times more likely to occur in families where domestic violence is present.
(Stacy, W. and Shupe, A. The Family Secret. Boston, MA. Beacon Press, 1983.)

Older children are frequently assaulted when they intervene to defend or protect their mothers.
(Hilberman and Munson, 1977-78)

Female abuse is also the context for sexual abuse of female children. In households where the mother is assaulted by the father, daughters are exposed to a risk of sexual abuse 6.5 times greater than girls in nonabusive families
(Bowker, Arbitell, and McFerron, 1988)