During the eleven year timeframe of the Afghanistan and Iraq war, countless men and women died in order to create peace around the world. Over six thousand American soldiers lost their lives, fighting to end conflict. However, in those same eleven years, nearly twice as many innocent women were murdered by spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends (The Huffington Post). They were victims of intimate partner violence, also known as IPV, one of the most brutal forms of domestic abuse. The women who face IPV are exposed to several types of harm, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.
Physical abuse, the most well known form of domestic violence, is a malicious crime that unfortunately many women will face in their intimate relationships. Any act that is meant to cause bodily harm can be considered as physical abuse, such as choking or slapping. While it’s awful to think that anyone in a romantic relationship can be a victim, studies show that millions of women will be abused in their lives. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1 in 4 women in the U.S. aged 18 or older will be severely beaten by their partners. This statistic totals to over thirty million battered women in the United States alone. Regardless of their age, studies also prove that every fifteen seconds a woman will be hit by her partner (NDVH). If she decides to report the violence, which less than 33% of all victims do (Government of Canada), she won’t file a police report until she’s been