Thursday, October 09, 2008
Editor
Editor’s note: October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This is the first of a four-part series from Ginger Galvan Johnson, bilingual victim advocate for the Wise Hope Crisis Center, which serves Jack, Montague and Wise counties.Domestic violence. Family violence. By either name, it’s abuse; and this abuse knows no gender, age, race, social, economical, educational, or cultural boundaries.

Every 12 minutes in the United States, a woman is abused by her intimate partner. Every 14 minutes a male suffers from an incident of abuse. Physical or sexual abuse of a child falls under the heading of domestic violence.
The Texas Family Code defines family violence as an act by a member of a family or household that is intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault; but does not include defensive measures to protect oneself.
Family violence, or domestic violence, is often thought of as punching, choking, slapping, and/or the use of weapons during an argument, be it guns, knives, sticks, brooms, or any other handy item.
Hearing of a domestic violence incident, the usual mental image is a black eye, a fat lip, or a broken arm with images of bandages, blood, and the ER.
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