Domestic Violence Emerges as a Critical Issue for Public Safety Needs

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The issues of spousal/partner and child abuse have become a major focus for this year's national headlines. Many media reports have raised public awareness about the aspects of domestic violence and how it affects many Americans, particularly women and children. We have come to learn about a myriad of facts and circumstances that surround this serious issue. The general public is learning how many people are victims of these dramatic and tragic circumstances in their everyday lives. For example:

* Nearly 500 women across the country will be battered in a two hour period; one woman is beaten every 15 seconds.

* 2 to 4 million women a year are battered worldwide.

* On the average, 10 women a day are killed by their batterers.

* Battery is the single largest cause of injury to women in the U.S.

* Women in this country are …