|
Child Witnesses of Domestic Violence
Research has found a link between
spousal battery and child abuse. Some studies have found that
about 50% of men who physically assault their significant others also
physically abuse their children.4 45-75% of women of
battered women in shelters report that the batterer have also committed
some form of child abuse. Even using a more conservative estimate, other
research indicates that child abuse is 15 times more likely to occur in
households where adult domestic violence is occurring.2
Daughters are more likely to become additional victims of a violent adult.4
Abuse is usually perpetrated by the primary batterer, but the child is also more
likely to be abused by battered women in a violent home.2
Even when children are not the direct
target, they can be used as tools to control. Children can held held
as "hostages" to compel the abuse parent to return home, or can
be used as a "spy" or informant by one parent against another.10
The may also be
injured while attempting to intervene in a domestic incident between
adults. Older children, in particular, are more likely to attempt to
defend or protect their mothers.4
Even when children are not directly
abused, they still are exposed to violence. It is estimated that 3.3 to 10
million children witness domestic violence each year.2 The
majority of the children from violent homes observe violence inflicted on
their mothers by fathers or father figures.4 Children who
witness abuse between adults become secondary victims. Often unseen and
unheard, children witness domestic violence between parents in a number of
ways. They may sense the tension leading up to the abuse, see or
hear an abusive incident, and/or witness the aftermath. Many parents
believe that their children are unaware of the violence because they are
too young to understand or are not in the room where the abuse
occurs. However, even when parents believe that their children are
unaware of what is happening, their children can often give accurate,
detailed accounts of incidents.4 Even very young children
can sense distress and danger, even if they do not understand.
Research shows that even if a child is not abused, witnessing violence is
much like being an actual direct victim.5
|
