One in five children are exposed to domestic violence and one in ten children are direct victims of it (“National Domestic”). Christina shares her story on what it was like to be one of those five children who has seen domestic violence right in front of them:
By the time I was six, I knew the drill all too well. There would be a little bit of yelling, things would be thrown about and Dad would strike Mom. She would cry and apologize and I would hide. That was my job, when things got ugly I was to be invisible and I had gotten incredibly good at it. A few years later, it was important for me to be visible and to cry for help because the strongest woman I know was at her weakest moment in life. She was being choked and didn’t have a voice. I
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Failure to do this may cause them to believe these actions are acceptable. Undoubtedly, this increases the number of victims and possibly the number of abusers. In addition, those same children may be more susceptible to perpetuating domestic violence in the future (“American Society”). At the same time children who are exposed to domestic violence are more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol, suffer from mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder, engage in criminal actions, and have difficulty in school (“American …show more content…
And this student has explained some of her reasons as to why she could not leave. She adds, “When I share my story I often get asked why I stayed in the relationship for so long. I believe people are genuinely confused why someone would choose to have someone like that in their lives. I, like many other survivors did not feel I had a choice. I was physically assaulted, verbally abused, my life was threatened, the lives of my family were threatened and I was manipulated into feeling responsible for his well being and ultimately his life.” (“Women’s