MYTH #1: Domestic violence is a private family matter
FACT: Domestic violence impacts victims, their children, family, the community, and the nation. A study estimates the cost of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) to the U.S., including health costs and productivity losses of around $5.8 billion annually.
MYTH #2: Domestic violence is an impulse control or anger management problem
FACT: Abusers act deliberately and with forethought. Abusers choose whom to abuse. For example, an abuser will selectively abuse their partner and no one else.
MYTH #3: Domestic violence is bad but it doesn't happen here
FACT: Domestic violence happens everywhere; and it happens right here in Silicon Valley. Last year alone, Maitri served 768 clients, majority of whom are based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
MYTH #4: Domestic violence happens only in poor families
FACT: Domestic violence happens to people of every educational and socioeconomic level and across all races, religions, and age groups.
MYTH #5: Children are not affected by domestic violence as it happens behind closed doors
FACT: Nearly 90% of children who live in homes in which there is domestic violence, will see or hear the abuse. Children as young as infants can suffer from the effects of exposure to abuse. Children exposed to violence and other forms of trauma may have permanent alterations in brain structure, chemistry, and function.
