Did you know that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced domestic violence? Or that every minute approximately 20 people suffer physical abuse from an intimate partner? This means that you probably knew at least a few people in your life who have been victim to, or are currently victim to domestic violence. Domestic violence has the unfortunate tendency to be swept under the rug and ignored. This is a problem that is potentially fatal to anyone finding themselves in those situations.
These numbers start to show us that domestic abuse is already way more widespread than we might believe. Unfortunately domestic violence is widely underreported leading to inaccurate statistics. The lack of conversation behind domestic abuse is something that needs to be turned around.
Domestic Abuse Is Not Contained to Low Income Groups
While domestic abuse is common in low income families, the number of well off families or couples that experience domestic violence is much higher than often expected. Unfortunately the abuse rates in upper class families tend to be even more grossly underreported.
Those who have a little more money in their wallets are able to afford care that others are not able to, leading to what some would call a veil of silence. The police are rarely called to a disturbance because they often do not live close enough to any neighbors for them to report, and the victims often refuse to report it themselves. Upper class victims often believe that they are the only ones that it is happening to, that disclosing that information would be shameful.
Victims are often threatened by their spouses that if they leave or report the abuse that they will be cut off financially. This leads to feelings of dependence on the abuser causing victims to stay in the abusive relationship. They feel stuck, alone, unsure, isolated. These feelings span across many domestic abuse victims regardless of their income.
The Realities
While high income victims of domestic abuse have access to more resources, that doesn’t mean that it is any easier for them to have to deal with it. They have the same shame, the same worries, and are often threatened with the loss of their finances or even homicide. Abusers who are in higher socioeconomic groups often feel that they are above the law, and could even have friends in high places that would help them if they did anything illegal.
Domestic violence is prevalent in all socioeconomic classes. There are stresses in all classes that can take the blame for the abuse, but that does not change the fact that it is much more common than it should be. No one should be a victim of domestic violence.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, you are not alone. There are a number of resources available to you that we encourage you to reach out to for help. You can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat with them online at https://www.thehotline.org/. If you believe that your internet usage is being monitored we encourage you to call instead of chatting as all internet usage can be tracked even when the history is deleted.