Affluent Domestic Violence Awareness
In Boulder Is Key to Preventing
Family Abuse Nightmares

by Dr. Jeanne King, Ph.D.

Far too often when the enigma of domestic violence lurks within a family, it erodes its fabric from the core. Men and women in abusive relationships destroy each other all while destroying themselves.

At some juncture, there will be a breaking point. The question is how much damage happens before, during and after. Victims of domestic violence leaving abusive relationships can easily go from the frying pan to the fire in their innocence to seek refuge from abuse. The more money, the more heat...and the more destruction.

Domestic violence affects one out of three women in their lifetime, and 60 to 70% of men who abuse their female partners also batter their children. It sees no boundaries—crossing race, religion, socio-economics, professionalism, age and education. In Boulder, domestic abuse afflicts our large number of upper middle class families as much as it does poorer communities. It touches all walks of life and seeing it for what it is... is the beginning of ending its ugly destructive presence in the lives of our Boulder families.

All too often, these families suffer beyond comprehension. We see upscale battered mothers become homeless, penniless and childless. There are those whose lives are so damaged by abuse that they cannot leave their home. Some may turn to self-medicating and end up with another form of abuse that haunts their lives.

The children of family violence often become polarized puppets in domestic violence divorce. Parent-child relationships can be damaged beyond recognition. The horrors of these family abuse nightmares are in many cases unconscionable.

October 1 marks the first day of the national Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which gives our community members an opportunity to identify domestic violence in their lives and in the lives of those they know and love. It’s a time of education. And from our perspective, education is prevention - the essential cure to ending domestic abuse.

Domestic violence isn’t just about hitting. It’s the larger complex of human interactional violent destruction. It crosses all boundaries, and it is here to stay as long as we remain unaware of it.

Dr. Jeanne King is a psychologist, author and domestic abuse intervention specialist. Partners in Prevention is a non-profit 501(c)(3) based in Boulder dedicated to helping people end domestic abuse through educational and therapeutic resources, including the Intimate Partner Abuse Treatment program that helps couples end domestic abuse within the context of their relationship.

For more information about Partners in Prevention, visit lhttp://www.enddomesticabuse.org and get instant access to Survivor Success Tips.

© Dr Jeanne King – Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention