The need for services and supports for domestic and dating violence survivors continues to grow throughout the country. One in three women experiences violence by an intimate partner in her lifetime (Department of Justice, 2014), with one in four experiencing severe physical violence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).
In Virginia, domestic violence is a serious problem. Virginia is one of the ten states in the United States with the highest rates of females murdered by males ; 31.3% of Virginia women experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner rape and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes . In Manassas and Manassas Park, the two largest cities in Prince William County and the community in which LGF is located, violent deaths from domestic violence almost doubled last year from 193 in 2018 to 294 in 2019. Despite these increases, only one domestic violence shelter, a total of 18 beds, is available in the county to provide safety from abuse for survivors and their families.
Dating violence and sexual assault is also a serious public health problem among teens and college students: one in three reports experiencing physical and sexual abuse in a dating relationship (Urban Institute, 2013). According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 6 in every 1,000 students will be sexually assaulted. In fact, college-aged women (between 16-24) have the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence, and of those, 80 percent go unreported.
1 “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data” (PDF). Vpc.org.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014). Lifetime prevalence of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner by state of residence.