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Karter Temoshenka
Mr. Yancey
4/29/14

Imagine having to wake up every morning scared to death of what could happen to you.
Imagine having to wear dirty raged clothes, and not know where your next meal is coming from.
Imagine being scared to come home after school, terrified of what could be waiting for you.
Imagine hearing your parents fighting nonstop, and being hit or kicked so hard you have bruises
for weeks. Imagine being killed, by the people that are supposed to love you the most. Family
Violence is a huge problem in the United States today. Its critical to recognize when family
violence is occurring and more importantly, to have the knowledge and courage to get help. Its
vital, in situations where abuse is involved, to get help quickly. You may not have a chance
later.
When it comes to family violence, there are two types: Domestic Violence and Child
Abuse. Domestic abuse, also known as spousal abuse, occurs when one person in an intimate
relationship or marriage tries to dominate and control the other person. Domestic abuse that
includes physical violence is called domestic violence. (Smith) Domestic abuse can include
physical abuse and emotional abuse. Physical abuse includes; hitting, kicking, punching, or
harming anothers body. Emotional abuse is more verbal cruelty such as yelling, threats,
belittling, or hurting someones feelings past the breaking point or harming someone mentally
with words. The aim of emotional abuse is to chip away at your feelings of self-worth and
independence. If youre a victim of emotional abuse, you may feel that there is no way out of
the relationship or that without your abusive partner you have nothing. (Smith) Some signs of
an abusive relationship include: 1) being humiliated or yelled at by your partner, 2) being
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criticized or put down by your partner, 3) being blamed for your partners own abusive behavior,
and 4) being treated so badly youre embarrassed to go out. (Smith)
Child abuse is another huge part of family violence. Child abuse has four characteristics;
emotional, physical, sexual, and neglect. Emotional abuse, like said before, includes verbal
attacks. Its the most difficult form of abuse to verify and identify. Physical abuse involves
external injuries and is more easily detected than other forms of abuse. Sexual abuse includes;
incest, sexual molestation, rape, sodomy, child pornography, etc. Neglect is basically the
continued failure to provide a child with necessary care and protection. The term child abuse
can be defined as any behavior directed toward a child by a parent, guardian, caretaker, family
member, or other adult, that endangers or impairs a childs physical or emotional health and
development. Child abuse and neglect is a national problem which has increased to epidemic
proportions in the United States. More than 2.5 million reports of child abuse are made in the
United States annually with hundreds of deaths related abuse reported each year. (National
council on child abuse and family violence) Child abuse and domestic violence are horrible in
themselves, just think if you had to deal with both.
If your still not convinced that family violence is a big problem in the U.S., let me share
some statistics with you. A child witnesses violence in 22% (nearly 1 of 4) of intimate partner
violence cases filed in state courts. 30% to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also
abuses children in the household. In a nationwide survey, 9.4% of high school students report
being hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend in their 12
months prior to the survey. On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical
violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States more than 12 million women
and men over the course of a year. (National Domestic Violence Hotline) Every 9 seconds in
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the U.S. a women is assaulted or beaten. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to
women Studies suggest that up to 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence
annually. Every day in the U.S. more than three women are murdered by their husbands or
boyfriends. Men who as children witnessed their parents domestic violence were twice as likely
to abuse their own wives than sons of nonviolent parents. (Domestic Violence Statistics)
Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving
more than 6 million children. The United States has one of the worst records among
industrialized nations - losing on average between four and seven children every day to child
abuse and neglect. (National Child Abuse Statistic Child abuse in America) Seeing these
statistics should make people want to put a stop to this and fast.
Although it is very wrong to abuse your children or partner, there could be some reasons
people do it. The parents could have been abused as a child and didnt have a good idea of what
parenting should look like in a healthy happy family. People may be feeling pressure from other
things too, not even family related: loss of a job, financial problems, poor living conditions, etc.
Drugs and alcohol can also play a huge role in family violence. Abusers can often feel isolated
or isolate themselves keeping all of their feelings in. Even though family violence is very bad
and cruel, it does happen and these could be reasons why. (National Council on Child Abuse
and Family Violence)
Even once you get out of an abusive relationship or grow up and move out, family
violence can have a lasting effect on someone. Physically, you could have scars which may last
a life time from being beaten or hit or a physical disability. Emotionally one could become very
unstable. Depression, anxiety, anger-management issues could all be a part of being abused long
ago.
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Now that you know its so important to get help, how do you? I suggest calling an abuse
hotline. The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-4-A-Child(1-800-422-4453) is
dedicated to the prevention of child abuse. Serving the United States, its territories, and
Canada, the Hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with professional crisis counselors
who, through interpreters, can provide assistance in 170 languages. The hotline offers crisis
intervention, information, literature, and referrals to thousands of emergency, social services, and
support resources. All calls are anonymous and confidential. (Child Abuse information)
I hope my paper has better educated you on family violence. I hope people realize what a
serious life threatening problem this is. I hope I have helped people and maybe even saved a life
by writing this.













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Works Cited

Child Abuse Information, National council on child abuse and family violence, 1998-2014,
April 6, 2014. <http://www.nccafv.org/child.htm>.

Domestic Violence Statistics, Lets put a stop to domestic Violence and abuse,
domesticviolencestatistics.org, 2014, April 4, 2014.
<http://www.domesticviolencestatistics.org/domestic-violence-statistics/>.

National Child Abuse Statistics Child Abuse in America, childhelp.org, 1959-2014, April 6,
2014. <http://www.childhelp.org/pages/hotline-home>.

National Child Abuse Statistics Child Abuse in America, childhelp.org, 1959-2014, April6,
2014. < http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics>.

Smith, M.A., Melina and Segal, Ph.D., Jeanne. Domestic Violence and Abuse, Signs of Abuse
and Abusive Relationships. Helpguide.org, February 2014, April 3, 2014.
<http://www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects
.htm>.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline the hotline.org, April 6, 2014.
<http://www.thehotline.org/is-this-abuse/statistics>.













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Family Violence: The Ugly Truth
by
Karter Temoshenka