Domestic Violence is primarily abuse and violence against women. That is not to say that men are not victims of domestic violence but the majority of victims are women, in part because of historical societal attitudes that allow it to occur.

"When men are oppressed, it's a tragedy. Then women are oppressed, it's a tradition."

Women have historically been viewed as property; first of their fathers, then of their husbands. The "Rule of Thumb" phrase was coined to refer to the size of the stick a man could use to beat his wife and children. It could be no bigger than the size of his thumb. The subservient position of women in society is played out in many forms and ways. It is played out in language, traditions, art, dance, music, fads, norms, values, rituals, heroes and mores.

Violence against Women (VAW) is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women. The United Nations General Assembly defines it as: "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life."

In the 1970's, with the advent of the Women's Movement and a long overdue emphasis on women's issues, it became apparent that there was a problem, a major problem. Women were being battered and terrorized in their homes by their "loved" ones. No one seemed to care or be upset by this fact. So women decided to take care of their sisters and their children. Women began speaking out against rape and battering. Women began talking to each other about these issues and providing support to each other via support groups, volunteer crisis lines, safe houses and eventually through establishing shelters. There was a focus on self-help and consciousness raising of the issues that accepted battering as okay. The Women's Movement was just one of many that focused on the inequalities that existed: Abolitionists, Women's Suffrage, Temperance, Women's Rights, Disability Rights, Civil Rights, Labor, Immigrant Rights, Peace/Anti-War, Feminists, LGBT Rights to name a few.

Key decades and movements associated with the domestic violence movement are as follows:

Early rape centers surfaced in Kansas in 1972 and 1973 in Lawrence, Liberal, and Emporia. In 1978 the Kansas Organization of Sexual Assault Centers (KOSAC) was founded followed in 1979 with the founding of the Kansas Association of Domestic Violence Programs (KADVP). In 1989 these two groups merged to become the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV), providing unity to the cause and more impetus to efforts to impact change on a state level. 29 member programs are now part of KCSDV; some are purely sexual assault programs, some are only domestic violence programs and some are duel programs providing both services.

DYNAMICS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

SNAPSHOT OF KANSAS 2007 KBI REPORT o 22,429 domestic violence incidents were reported to law enforcement. o 11,423 domestic violence-related arrests were made. o 7,903 Protection From Abuse orders were filed o 4,159 Protection From Stalking orders were filed. o One domestic violence murder occurred every 21.5 days. o One domestic violence incident occurred every 23 minutes, 26 seconds. o Law Enforcement made one domestic violence arrest every 46 minutes,42 seconds KANSAS PROGRAMS July 2005-June 2006 o 9,849 female victims of domestic violence received face-to-face services. o 3,721 children received face-to-face services o 24,115 domestic violence crisis calls were responded to.