Domestic Abuse

Current data indicates that 1,400 women are killed each year by their husbands, ex-husbands or boyfriends. In addition, some two million woman annually, or the average of one every 16 seconds, are beaten. In 1992, the United States Surgeon General listed abuse by husbands and partners as the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44. Police response to domestic violence has been ambivalent at best. A study in Ohio suggests that 67 percent of domestic …

…of calls to which police officers respond. Yet, until fairly recently, police officers rarely ventured into the private domain of the mat rial relationship. Now, because of stricter laws and better police training, officers are better equipped to handle domestic violence offenders. Although domestic violence is better recognized and thought of as a serious matter by police the problem has ceased to go away. Until all of society is better educated this problem will persist.