Catharine M. Venzon Divorce Law Blog on Lawyers.com

It is often said that the true measure of a society can be judged by the laws it enacts to protect its weak. Our country can be proud that it now it can be judged in a more favorable light as the Department of Justice has recently created within itself a Violence Against Women Office. Attorney General Janet Reno named Bonnie Campbell, the former Attorney General of Iowa, Director of this newly created office.  As the new  action to oppose family violence, we can hope that there will be a new beginning in the American way of life.

The Department of Health and Human Services has determined that domestic violence is leading cause of injury and/or death to women. Each year three to four million women are victims of family violence, according to a Department of Justice press release in March, 1995. Over two-thirds of violent crimes committed against women are done so by husbands, boyfriends, or someone known to the woman. A staggering statistic is that one-third of all women killed in the United States are murdered by their husband or boyfriend. Additionally, a 1989 study by Bowker, Arbitill & McFerron, showed that seventy percent of men who batter women also batter their children, making the presence of spousal abuse the single most identifiable risk marker for predicting whom will commit child abuse.

There is no single personality profile of a batterer. Numerous studies have found that a risk-marker profile can help to identify certain individuals who may be batterers and situations that can increase the likelihood of abuse, but, unfortunately, the profile cannot be used to predict violence.

Risk markers include:

• Witnesses and/or experiencing violence in a childhood home


• Chronic alcohol abuse or illicit drug use


• Low self-esteem/status related to employment in comparison to education


• Feeling inadequate in comparison to and incompatibility with a partner's employment achievements

As a Buffalo divorce lawyer, we encounter many cases where domestic abuse is a factor. Domestic abuse comes in many forms, and can be physical as well as psychological. Each form seeks control. However, it's important to remember that abuse is not restricted to males. Although the majority of abusers are men and their victims are women and children, men also suffer from physical and psychological abuse, and may be even less likely to report it.

The sad reality is that domestic violence is a part of American society and a way of life for so many people. But there is hope in that there are now new laws that reflect society's acknowledgement that abuse, neglect, battery and degradation within the sanctity of a relationship is not acceptable, and ignoring these acts of violence no longer will be tolerated. No one is immune from domestic violence

Domestic Violence Hotline: (24 hrs.)

1-800-942-6906

Spanish (9 AM-5 PM) 1-800-942-6908

Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-342-3720

Venzon Law Firm
300 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, New York 14202
(716) 462-6585