nt also. In a 36-month study of 146 children, ages 11 to 17, from homes where wife beating was a major problem, all sons over the age of 14 attempted to protect their mother. Sixty-two percent of them were injured in the process. In homes where domestic violence occurs, children are at high risk of suffering physical abuse themselves. Regardless of whether children are physically abused, the emotional effects of witnessing domestic violence are very similar to the psychological trauma associated with being a victim of child abuse. Each year, an estimated minimum of 3.3 million children witnesses domestic violence. One-third of the children who witness the battering of their mothers demonstrate significant behavioral and/or emotional problems, including psychosomatic disorders, stuttering, anxiety, fears, sleep disruption, excessive crying, and school problems. Those boys who observe their fathers’ abuse of their mothers are more likely to inflict severe violence as adults. Data suggests that girls who witness maternal abuse may tolerate abuse as adults more than girls who do not. These negative affects may be diminished if the child benefits from intervention by the law and domestic violence programs. The long-term effects of domestic violence have not begun to be fully documented. Battering is the single major cause of injury to women, more significant that that of auto-accidents, rapes, or muggings. Battered women suffer physical and mental problems because of domestic violence. In fact, the emotional and psychological abuse inflicted by batterers may be more costly to treat in the long run that physical injury. Many of the physical injuries sustained by women seem to cause medical difficulties, as women grow older. Arthritis, hypertension, and heart disease have been identified by battered women as directly caused by aggravated domestic violence early in their adult lives. Battered women frequently lose their ...
