SAN ANTONIO – An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year, according to Bexar County Family Justice Center.
And 324,000 women each year experience intimate partner violence during their pregnancy.
To highlight the importance of domestic violence awareness and how to take action, KSAT.com held a town hall on Wednesday, Oct. 6. You can watch it in the video player above.
The town hall was hosted by KSAT 12′s Myra Arthur.
Panelists include:
- Dr. Luke Newton - OB-GYN with University Health and division chief for General Obstetrics and Gynecology at UT Health
- Rachel Mendez, SAPD Detective Special Victims Unit
- Christian Henricksen, Chief of Litigation for Bexar County District Attorney’s Office
- Marta Pelaez, President & CEO of Family Violence Prevention Services
Bexar County Family Justice Center provided the following information on domestic violence:
- The majority (73%) of family violence victims are female.
- Females were 84% of spousal abuse victims and 86% of abuse victims at the hands of a boyfriend.
- Historically, females have been most often victimized by someone they knew.
- Females who are 20-24 years of age are at the greatest risk for intimate partner violence.
- 3 out of 4 Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence.
Physical violence is not the only form of domestic abuse. Here are other examples of physical, sexual, economic and emotional abuse from Bexar County Family Justice Center:
Physical abuse: grabbing, pinching, shoving, biting, hair pulling, slapping and denying medical care.
Sexual abuse: marital rape, coercing, attacks on sexual parts of the body and treating another in a sexually demeaning manner.
Economic abuse: withholding access to money, making or attempting to make a person financially dependent and forbidding attendance at school and/or at work.
Emotional abuse: name-calling, constant criticism, belittling one’s abilities and damaging a partner’s relationship with the children.
Psychological abuse: mind games, forcing isolation from friends, family, school, or work and threatening physical harm to children.
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