Domestic Violence Family Services provides services in domestic violence shelters, schools, and congregations and with individual families throughout Pierce County.

What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic Violence is a pattern of behavior used by one person to control another. Family violence is not about out of control anger. It may include:

• Biting, strangling, kicking, pushing or hitting.
• Isolation
• Threatening physical harm
• Deprivation of food, sleep. money or medical assistance
• Forced sexual contact
• Discouraging relationships with family or friends
• Name calling
• Destruction of property or pets

Family Violence affects us all!
When there is violence in a family’s life, the children are affected whether they are specific targets or victims of the violence or not. Stable, capable, cooperative children depend on people they can trust in a setting that provides security, nurturing, genuine affection and meaningful, reasonable challenges

The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children
Children are not bystanders when they grow up in a violent home. They learn from what they see. Their behavior is often a reflection of the anger, confusion and the fear they feel:

• Acting out, or withdrawing.
• Refusing to go to school
• Bet wetting and nightmares
• Overly aggressive or passive behavior
• Out of control behavior
• Inability to follow directions, or set their own limits
• Isolation from friends and family members
• Depression
• Feelings of guilt
• Fear of abandonment
• Distrustful

As they grow up, they may follow the patterns they observed in childhood. Domestic Violence Family Services works with children to change that.

Counseling makes a difference!

Through specialized counseling in both a group and individual setting, children learn that there are positive ways to handle their emotions. In other words, they learn that violence is not a necessary part of their lives.

Myths and Facts about Domestic Violence

Myth: Family violence is a momentary loss of temper.
Battering is a way of establishing control in a relationship. A batterer uses intimidation, threats, and physiological, emotional and physical abuse to control other people.

Myth: Domestic violence affects only a few people
Domestic violence is the leading cause of injuries to women and girls between the ages of 15 and 44 in the United States. According to the US Department of Justice, a woman is beaten every 15 seconds. Up to 35% of women who visit the emergency room are being treated for injuries relating to domestic violence.

Myth: Most victims of domestic violence live in poor, urban areas.
Domestic Violence affects women of income levels, cultures, races, and ages. In one study of men seeking counseling for battering showed that one-third were professional men, such as lawyers, doctors, psychologists, ministers and business executives. (Massachusetts Coalition of Battered Women’s Service Group)

Myth: Leaving domestic violence is easy.
Almost 60% of women and children who are homeless are living in shelters or on the street because of domestic violence. Not only are the streets a dangerous place to survive, the act of leaving a batterer increases the odds of being killed by the batterer by 75%. This is why it is important to have a safety plan in place before leaving.

Additional Resources

If you are in immediate danger, please call 911.

The Pierce County Domestic Violence Helpline provides resource and referrals for victims of domestic violence in Pierce County. They can be reached at 1-253-798-4166

The YWCA of Tacoma Pierce County provides shelter and counseling services for victims of domestic violence and their families. They can be reached at 1-253-272-4181, or at their website.