Photo: European Parliament (Flickr)
Indiana has a higher rate of domestic violence than the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Domestic violence and rape are on the rise in Indiana, according to new figures out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its data focused on rape and violence between intimate partners.
Figures show that one million Hoosier women or 40 percent of the state population has experienced rape or domestic violence in their lifetimes. The CDC says 600,000 men have also experience this type of violence.
Julian Center Executive Director Melissa Pershing says domestic violence in Indiana is five percent higher than the national average.
“It‘s time for us to start looking around the room, looking at our moms, our daughters, our sisters, our granddaughters, our girlfriends and realize that one in three at minimum as they come into adulthood have gone through this,” she says.
Pershing says the bad economy does not cause domestic violence, but can often make it worse.
“If someone is already prone to being abusive, if they‘re unemployed or underemployed or under financial pressure, then it exacerbates it,” she says.
Pershing says the figures are not a surprise to field professionals and she believes incidents are being reported more often. The true tragedy, she says, is the denial that often follows reporting of such figures.
