FACTS WE SHOULD KNOW…

* Information taken from Peace of Mind Florida Domestic Violence and Traumatic Brain Injury Intersection Training

*Know the facts

The next time you’re in a room with 6 people, think about this:

1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men experience violence from their partners in their lifetimes.

1 in 5 women are survivors of rape.

1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lives.

1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men were sexually abused before the age of 18.

- No More.org

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

(DV)

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE..

Can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion and gender

A woman living with a disability is 85% more likely to be a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault than a woman without a disability

Women who have experienced domestic violence are 80 percent more likely to have a stroke, 70 percent more likely to have heart disease, 60 percent more likely to have asthma and 70 percent more likely to drink heavily than women who have not experienced intimate partner violence (Futures Without Violence-the Facts on Domestic Violence, Dating and Sexual Violence Fact Sheet)

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE..

Women are more likely than men to be victimized by a current or former intimate partner (National Crime Victimization Survey: Criminal Victimization, 2007. 2008 U.S. department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics)

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS…

A pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors used by one person in order to gain power and control of another

Abusive, disrespectful and hurtful behaviors that include physical, sexual, emotional and economical abuse

A crime

Traumatic Brain Injury

(TBI)

Know the facts

There are more cases of brain injury than HIV, breast cancer and spinal cord injuries combined

TBI can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere

It does not discriminate

traumatic brain injury An insult to the skull, brain or its covering, resulting from external

trauma, which produces a diminished altered state of consciousness- which results in an impairment of cognitive abilities or physical functioning or disturbance of behavioral or emotional functioning.

An individual does not have to lose consciousness to sustain a TBI

Intersection of TBI and DV

Across time……

In a 1998 study by Jackson and Phillips of 53 women living in a domestic violence shelter, on average, the women experience five (5) brain injuries in the prior year. Almost 30% reported 10 injuries the prior year.

Research studies on the incidence of traumatic brain injury in domestic violence cases have revealed: greater than 90% of all injuries secondary to domestic violence occur to the head, neck or face region. (Monohan and O'Leary, 1999).

Valera, in 2003, found that of the 99 battered women he studied, 75% sustained at least one partner-related brain injury and 50% sustained multiple partner-related injuries.

Brain Injury Association of America…

A study attempted to survey 169 women who came to three metropolitan emergency departments with injuries and health issues directly related to domestic violence within a 7 to 9 month period.

The women were referred by the emergency room personnel to sexual assault-domestic violence health staff who had been trained in the use of the survey and given resource and referral information about traumatic brain injuries.

Fifty-one women, or about 30% of the 169 women, agreed to or were able to complete the survey at the time of the emergency room visit. Forty-six women responded to all items on the survey.

Of the 46 women, a total of 71 separate cases of physical assault were reported.

Thirty-eight percent of the women reported multiple assaults.

Overall, 35% of the survey participants were identified as possibly having sustained a mild traumatic brain injury and were referred to appropriate services.

Fourteen women, 30% of this group, reported that they experienced a loss of consciousness on at least one occasion.

Fifteen percent of the women were hospitalized as a direct result of injuries to the head.

Sixty-seven percent of the women, both who did and did not experience a loss of consciousness, reported symptoms associated with mild traumatic brain injury, such as headaches, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, and memory loss.

Because batterers seldom assault their partners only once, some victims suffered repeated head injuries.

One study of women in three domestic violence shelters found that:

92% had been hit in the head by their partners more than once

83% had been both hit in the head and severely shaken

8% of them had been hit in the head over 20 times in the past year

The more times individuals had been hit in the head or shaken, the more severe, and the more frequent, were their symptoms