For Immediate Release: 4.8.08

• Domestic violence (intimate partner abuse) can be physical, emotional, financial, sexual, psychological, verbal and/or a combination of these abuses
• Anyone can be a victim of domestic violence
• Domestic violence is statistically consistent across racial and ethnic boundaries (Abnet.org); it does not discriminate on the basis of gender, socioeconomic standing, age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or any other factor
• 90- 95% of domestic violence victims are women and 95% of perpetrators are men (Abnet.org)
• A woman is battered every 15 seconds in the United States (US Study on The Status of Women)
• Up to 10 million children experience domestic violence each year (Family Violence Prevention Fund)
• Children raised in violent homes are 1,500 times more likely to be victims of abuse themselves (Family Violence Prevention Fund)
• More than three women are murdered each day by their husbands or boyfriends in the US (Family Violence Prevention Fund)
• The aggregate cost of domestic violence (property loss, ambulance service, police response, pain and suffering, criminal justice process, etc.) is $67 billion annually (Safe@Work Coalition)
• Domestic violence is estimated to cost employers between $3-13 billion annually (NCADV)
• Between one and two million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited or mistreated by someone on whom they depend for care or protection (National Center on Elder Abuse)
• One in five high school girls report being abused by a boyfriend (2007 NCVRW Resource Guide)
• One million women are stalked each year in the US (Family Violence Prevention Fund)
• 70% to 75% of women reporting domestic violence also reported their partner had threatened, hurt or killed one or more of their pets, with actual harm occurring in 57% of the cases (Journal of Emotional Abuse 1, 1998)

One of the most dangerous times for a victims is when she is planning to leave, has announced she’s leaving or has left the abusive relationship. In fact, 65% of intimate homicide victims physically separated from the perpetrator prior to their death (Abnet.org).

Last year alone, community support enabled the Shelter for Abused Women & Children to:

• Provide more than 13,630 days of shelter/safety to adult and child victims of domestic violence
• Answer 5,150 calls to the 24-hour crisis hotline: 239-775-1101
• Provide more than 27,000 total counseling hours
• Develop in excess of 4,520 safety plans with adults and children

Love isn’t black &  blue…To learn more about domestic violence and how to help loved ones, family or friends in a violent relationship, please call the Shelter for Abused Women & Children’s 24-hour crisis line at 239-775-1101, or visit www.naplesshelter.org

For more information about the Shelter for Abused Women & Children’s programs and services, please call 239-775-3862, or visit the Shelter’s website at www.naplesshelter.org.

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The Shelter for Abused Women & Children helps adult and child victims and survivors of domestic violence through safety, intervention and support; educates the public about domestic violence; and advocates for social change against domestic violence. For more information, please contact us at 239-775-3862, or visit us online at: www.naplesshelter.org

Media Contact: Mary Ann T. Green, mgreen@naplesshelter.org, 239-775-3862, ext. 211