Domestic Violence Quiz

True or False?

1. When a woman leaves an abusive relationship, the abuse usually ends.
2. Pregnant womean are generally abused less frequently or less severly.
3. Battered women are rarely sexually abused by the batterer.
4. Many women are battered because of their drug and alcohol abuse and/or abuse by the batterer.
5. Batterers rarely abuse their children.
6. Physicians, social workers and other service providers are required by law to report suspected battering cases.
7. Men who come from abusive families are no more likely to be abusers than men from non-violent families.
8. Battered women are at higher risk for AIDS.
9. A woman can generally get into a battered women's shelter to escape abuse.
10. Men and women are equally violent in relationships.
11. Those in same-sex relationships are less likely to be abuse than those in straight relationships.
12. Relationship violence by adolescents (battering and date rape) is not a predictor of adult violence.
13. Battering is rarely life-threatening.
14. Women who injure or kill abusers in self-defense are not likely to be prosecuted.

Answers

1. False
   In three fourths of reported spousal assaults, the victim was separated or divorced from the abuser at the time of the incident. The greatest risk occurs when the partner leaves the abuser.
2. False
   Women are at a significantly higher risk for abuse during pregnancy. Sixty-five percent of pregnant emergency department patients are treated for injuries or symptoms caused by battering. Battering is more common than placenta pervia or diabetes. Higher rates of miscarriage, self-induced, attempted, and therapeutic abortions are reported for battered women as compared to non-battered women.
3. False
   One-half of all rapes of women over thirty are part of a battering syndrome. Battering is a factor inthirty-five percentof all rapes. Battered women are frequently raped by their abusers.
4. False
   After the onset of battering, women are nine times more likely to abuse drugs, and sixteen times more likely to abuse alcohol than the non-battered. There is a high correlation between substance abuse and battering by men. Substance abuse itself does not in itself cause abuse.
5. False
   Seven out of ten batterers physically and/or sexually abuse their children. Seventy percent of abusers come from families in which they witnessed violence, and thirty-three percent were also physically abused.
6. False
   No one is required to report battering except when weapons are used or the level of injury is consistent with a felony assault. Mandatory reporting usually is not in the best interest of the abused person.
7. False
   Seventy percent of batterers come from families in which they witnessed abuse of their mother and/or in which they were physically and/or sexually abused.
8. Maybe
   Battered women do not control sexual decisions or behavior. Safer sex is usually not being beaten or raped.
9. False
   Shelter space is limited, and is usually available only to women at greatest risk. Leaving their home can mean homelessness, loss of property and loss of custody of their children.
10. False
    Crime statistics and medical records verify that ninety-five percent of the victims of domestic violence are women.
11. False
    Battering is just as prevalent in same-sex relationships as it is in herterosexual relationships.
12. False
    This is a very strong indicstor of adult violence.
13. False
    Battering is often lethal. All battered people feel as if their lives are in jeapordy.
14. False
    Battered women who kill or injure partners in self-defense are more likely to be prosecuted, convicted and serve longer sentences than men who commit similar crimes.