False.
Domestic violence crosses all socioeconomic, ethnic, racial, educational, age, sexual orientation, and religious lines. The most common indicator is gender: 95% of domestic violence victims are female and 5% are male.

2. Domestic violence only affects a small group of people.

False.
Approximately four million women are physically battered every year and a further twenty million are emotionally abused. Domestic violence affects everyone it comes into contact with - children within the family, relatives, friends, co-workers, employers, and the criminal justice system.

3. Victims of domestic violence never leave the abusive relationship and are helpless, passive, and fragile individuals.

False.
75% of the battered women murdered, were killed after they had ended the relationship. There are more than 2,000 battered women serving prison time for defending their lives against the batterer. 50% of homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence.

4. Victims of domestic violence stay in the relationship because they enjoy the abuse or victims are mentally unstable if they choose to stay in an abusive relationship.

False.
This myth is a classic form of victim blaming. It places responsibility for the abuse upon the victim. There are many reasons for staying in an abusive relationship: safety, religion, children, financial, community pressure, and hope. Many victims want to continue the relationship but stop the abuse. In fact, victims go to great lengths to stop the violence.

5. Batterers are socially inept, inappropriate, or violent in all relationships.

False.
Abusive behavior is a learned behavior. Batterers choose to use violence. They often have other relationships that are not abusive, such as at work or with friends. Many batterers exhibit a Jekyll and Hyde personality - they are charming, loving, and attentive one minute and then angry and violent the next.

6. Stress, alcohol and drug abuse, and victim's behavior cause domestic violence.

False.
All of the above are excuses for violence - not the causes. Studies have found that even after a batterer stops abusing substances, the abusive behavior continues. Many people who abuse drugs or alcohol are not violent. Similarly, there are batterers who do not abuse drugs or alcohol. Other studies have indicated that stress and/or substance abuse may intensify the violence but does not cause it.

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