The Truth About Domestic Violence

I feel that domestic violence situations are grossly overlooked by a large majority of people in our country. I personally am guilty of the same thing. Sure, I always knew that there are women and men out there involved in abusive relationships, but after looking up a few statistics on the matter, I was really surprised at how present these unfortunate situations are in our society. South Carolina alone has one of the highest ratings of domestic violence in the United States. There are certain stigmas associated with a view of a "battered woman," but according to the SCCADVASA website, most of those are myths. For example, I had always assumed and heard that most domestic violence occurs much more in a lower socioeconomic status and the victims are typically not highly educated. This is not the case. Domestic violence can occur on any socioeconomic level, and women who are battered have educations ranging from completion of 5th grade to doctoral degrees. What's so unfortunate about these stigmas is that it decreases the amount of awareness by the public because people get stuck on their own assumptions. I know that there is no real way to understand a situation unless you are in it (though I would never wish such a thing on anyone), but in order to move forward and make progressive changes against domestic violence situations, we must step outside our comfort zones and sympathize with the victims of such horrendous crime.