Domestic Violence is a Child Health Issue
October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month, an issue affecting children and families nationwide.
Although domestic violence often occurs between adults, it concerns children because in 30% to 60% of families that experience domestic violence, children also are abused. In addition, children who witness domestic violence — even if they are not targets of the violence — tend to exhibit the same emotional, behavioral, and academic problems as abused children.
In California, rates of domestic violence calls for assistance decreased by nearly one third from 1998 to 2008. In one county – Merced – severity has gone up even as rates were stable.
View a customizable map of domestic violence rates by county >>
On kidsdata.org, we also offer an important related measure of violence – dating violence among adolescents. These data come to us from the California Healthy Kids Survey, which is administered in schools statewide by WestEd for the California Department of Education. According to the ’06-’08 survey, 6.6% of 11th-grade girls and 7.5% of boys reported they had experienced dating violence, defined as being hit, slapped, punched, or otherwise hurt by a boyfriend/girlfriend in the past year.
Across all grades in California, boys are more likely than girls to report dating violence, except in non-traditional school settings. And the percentage of 11th-grade boys reporting dating violence has increased in recent years. Students who report high levels of connectedness to school are less likely to report dating violence.
Tags: Health Observances
Posted by kidsdata.org
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