October is Domestic Violence awareness Month
Our community partner, WEAVE, knows that children raised in homes with domestic violence experience the same trauma as the abused parent, but they may lack the capacity to process the abuse.
Without recognition and intervention, children who live with daily exposure to domestic violence will endure lifelong barriers to healthy relationships and healthy lives. More than half of WEAVE shelter residents are children ages 17 and younger. At the Safehouse, they offer an array of specialized children’s services to help combat the trauma these youngest victims have experienced.
Rates of Child Abuse and Child Exposure to Domestic Violence
- Approximately four million referrals for alleged maltreatment are made to child protective agencies each year.
- Researchers have estimated that between 3.3 million and 10 million children are exposed to adult domestic violence each year.
- One researcher has estimated conservatively that at least 10 to 20 percent of children are exposed to intimate partner violence annually, with as many as one-third exposed at some point during childhood or adolescence.
- 40% of child abuse victims also report experiencing domestic violence.
- One study found that children exposed to violence in the home were 15 times more likely to be physically and/or sexually assaulted than the national average.
Resources
- WEAVE’s Support Line 916.920.2952
- California Youth Crisis Line 1.800.843.5200
- Diogenes Youth Services 1.800.339.7177
- National Runaway Hotline 1.800.621.4000
- Sacramento Crisis Nursery 916.394.2000
- Mental Health Center Psychiatric Crisis 916.875.1000
- Suicide Prevention Hotline 916.368.3111
- More resources