Chris Brown’s violent assault on pop icon Rihanna in February of this year sent up red flags for African American girls and their understandably concerned moms. Along with the horrific photos depicting the severity of the beating the young woman suffered at the hands of one-time heartthrob Brown, a dangerous combination of mixed messages and finger-pointing may have fueled the contentious debate and controversy regarding domestic abuse nationwide and in the African American community in particular.
That dirty little secret — spousal or intimate partner abuse — has emerged on the public stage again. The message about how prominent and deadly these types of attacks are remains shrouded in self-recriminations and shame on the part of the victims, who are sometimes ambiguous about the circumstances of the attack and their responses in the aftermath of the violence.
Rather than leave it to a popular, albeit confused, young singer to share information about the problem of domestic abuse, here are some cold, hard facts that will help your teenage daughter discern how important it is to safeguard against violent physical abuse.
Fact 1: Black women suffer from the highest rates of domestic violence. Black females experience domestic violence at a rate 35 percent higher than that of white females, and about 22 times the rate of women of other races. Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics
Fact 2: Physical violence is estimated to occur in four to six million intimate relationships each year in the United States. Source: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Fact 3: Nearly one in every three adult women experiences at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood. Approximately four million American women experience a serious assault by an intimate partner during a 12-month period. Source: American Psychological Association. Facts About Family Violence. American Psychological Association Web site.
Fact 4: It is estimated that two to four million American women are assaulted by a domestic partner every year. Twelve million women — 25 percent of the female population will be abused in their lifetime, which accounts for 35 percent of emergency room visits for American women. Source: Massey, J. Domestic Violence in Neurologic Practice. Archives in Neurology
And these are just some of the facts regarding the likelihood and the frequency of these criminal attacks. Don’t miss part two of rolling out‘s series on domestic abuse.
–roz edward
