Washington Lawyer - October 2019 - 7

FROM OUR PRESIDENT
obtainable, while the number of individuals who
handle domestic violence discreetly by finding
alternative rental housing or staying with family
members is harder to assess.7 Thus, comparing the
relative prevalence of domestic violence among
different income levels is challenging. Several
high-profile reports of domestic violence among
celebrities and political figures reflect the "equal
opportunity" aspect of this behavior.
Myth #3: Only women experience domestic
violence. Women are disproportionately
impacted by intimate partner violence, with
some reports indicating that as high as 85
percent of domestic violence victims are
women. 8 While much less common, men
can also be victims of domestic violence.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
has reported that about 1 in 10 men (and 1 in
4 women) "have experienced sexual violence,
physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate
partner during their lifetime."9
In addition, while the perception is that domestic
violence is limited to heterosexual women, it also
occurs in LGBTQ relationships at comparable or
even higher rates than in the heterosexual population.10 Domestic violence is about power and
control, so it can occur in any intimate relationship
in which there is a power imbalance.11
Myth #4: Domestic violence only impacts the
survivor. While domestic violence has devastating
consequences for the individual survivor, it has
repercussions for other family members, particularly
children, and for society at large. Approximately 15.5
million children are exposed to domestic violence
every year,12 affecting their neurocognitive development and general health and well-being.13 The
lasting impact is reflected in data indicating that
these children "are more likely to attempt suicide,
abuse drugs and alcohol, run away from home,
engage in teenage prostitution, and commit sexual
assault crimes."14 Studies suggest that men exposed
to violence during childhood are at least three
times more likely to perpetrate violence against
intimate partners, thus perpetuating the cycle of
violence for another generation.15 The societal costs
of intimate partner violence in medical services,
lost productivity from paid work, criminal justice,
and other costs are substantial - exceeding
$5.8 billion to $12.6 billion annually.16
The John Donne phrase "No man is an island,
entire of itself" rings true here. Domestic violence
impacts each of us in some way whether we personally know a survivor or not. As lawyers, we
have the skills and the responsibility to use those
skills to address this issue for the individuals
impacted and for society as a whole.

NOTES

1 While men can also be subjected to domestic
violence (as noted in this column), I will refer to
survivors as female and use the female pronoun,
recognizing that the vast majority of victims are
women.
2 "The Danger Assessment: Validation of a Lethality
Risk Assessment Instrument for Intimate Partner
Femicide," researchgate.net/publication/23138090.
3 "Why Do People Stay in Abusive Relationships?"
thehotline.org/is-this-abuse/why-do-people-stay-inabusive-relationships.
4 "Dynamics of Domestic Violence Experienced by
Immigrant Victims," vawnet.org/material/dynamicsdomestic-violence-experienced-immigrant-victims.
5 "Why Don't They Just Leave?" psychpage.com/
learning/library/assess/opportunity_control.html.
6 The National Intimate Partner and Sexual
Violence Survey: 2010 Summary Report, cdc.
gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_executive_
summary-a.pdf.
7 "Economic Stress and Domestic Violence," vawnet.
org/material/economic-stress-and-domesticviolence.
8 "Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2001," Bureau
of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief (Feb. 2003),
bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ipv01.pdf.
9 cdc.gov/violenceprevention/
intimatepartnerviolence/index.html.
10 "Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Patients," Journal of General
Internal Medicine (2011), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
articles/PMC3138983.
11 "If I Can't Have You Nobody Will: Explicit Threats in
the Context of Coercive Control," researchgate.net/
publication/313734215.
12 "Domestic and Sexual Violence Fact Sheet," National
Network to End Domestic Violence, nnedv.org/
mdocs-posts/domestic-violence-and-sexual-assaultfactsheet.
13 "Understanding the Significance of a Minor's Trauma
History in Family Court Rulings," library.niwap.org/
wp-content/uploads/Effects-of-Trauma-on-MinorsFact-Sheet-2.11.16.pdf.
14 "Domestic and Sexual Violence Fact Sheet," National
Network to End Domestic Violence, nnedv.org/
mdocs-posts/domestic-violence-and-sexual-assaultfactsheet.
15 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, World
Health Organization, who.int/violence_injury_
prevention/violence/global_campaign/16_days/en/
index7.html.
16 National Coalition Against Domestic Violence,
National Fact Sheet (citing WHO data), ncadv.org/
learn/statistics.

$9.3 MILLION
INVESTED IN
JUSTICE
The DC Bar Foundation
awards grants to DC
nonprofits that provide free
civil legal aid to low-income
residents to advance equal
access to justice for all. In
2019, we invested $9.3 M
into the community with
these goals in mind:

Keeping families in
their homes
$5.3 million
Protecting people in
the marketplace
$2.5 million
Amplifying voices of
those in need
$1.3 million

Learn more about DCBF's
impact across the District at
www.dcbarfoundation.org

DC Bar Foundation
80 M Street SE, Suite 100
Washington, DC 20003
202-467-3750

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/23138090 https://www.thehotline.org/is-this-abuse/why-do-people-stay-in-abusive-relationships/ https://www.thehotline.org/is-this-abuse/why-do-people-stay-in-abusive-relationships/ https://vawnet.org/material/dynamics-domestic-violence-experienced-immigrant-victims https://vawnet.org/material/dynamics-domestic-violence-experienced-immigrant-victims http://psychpage.com/learning/library/assess/opportunity_control.html http://psychpage.com/learning/library/assess/opportunity_control.html http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ipv01.pdf http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138983/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138983/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313734215_If_I_Can%27t_Have_You_Nobody_Will_Explicit_Threats_in_the_Context_of_Coercive_Control https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313734215_If_I_Can%27t_Have_You_Nobody_Will_Explicit_Threats_in_the_Context_of_Coercive_Control http://nnedv.org/mdocs-posts/domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-factsheet http://nnedv.org/mdocs-posts/domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-factsheet http://nnedv.org/mdocs-posts/domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-factsheet http://library.niwap.org/wp-content/uploads/Effects-of-Trauma-on-Minors-Fact-Sheet-2.11.16.pdf http://library.niwap.org/wp-content/uploads/Effects-of-Trauma-on-Minors-Fact-Sheet-2.11.16.pdf http://library.niwap.org/wp-content/uploads/Effects-of-Trauma-on-Minors-Fact-Sheet-2.11.16.pdf https://nnedv.org/mdocs-posts/domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-factsheet/ https://nnedv.org/mdocs-posts/domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-factsheet/ https://nnedv.org/mdocs-posts/domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-factsheet/ http://www.dcbarfoundation.org https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/16_days/en/index7.html https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/16_days/en/index7.html https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/16_days/en/index7.html https://ncadv.org/learn/statistics https://ncadv.org/learn/statistics

Washington Lawyer - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Lawyer - October 2019