INTRODUCTION

Estimates of the occurrence of domestic violence differ depending upon the survey used to collect the data; however, it is clear that this phenomenon affects a large part of the population. According to the 1992 NCVS, more than 1 million women were victimized by intimate partners, a category that includes boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, and former spouses, in that year (Andrews & Bonta, 2003; Healey, Smith, & O'Sullivan, 1998). According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), approximately 840,000 women were assaulted, raped, or robbed by intimate partners in 1996 (Greenfeld et al., 1998). Estimates from the National Violence Against Women Survey indicate approximately 1.8 million women and 1 million men were raped, physically assaulted, or stalked by an intimate partner in the past twelve months (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz (1980) estimated that 2 million women were victimized each year by their husbands and further speculated that if ex-husbands and boyfriends were included in the calculations, the estimate could be as high as 4 million.

Whichever figure is used, it is clear that domestic violence affects a large number of women sometime in their life. Physical violence can have far reaching effects on women and can continue long after surface injuries have healed. Research has shown that women who suffer domestic assault at the hands of an intimate partner are more likely to show increased rates of depression, suicide, anxiety, post-traumatic stress syndrome, low self-esteem, and substance abuse problems (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000).