Rihanna, Don’t Do It! Don’t Go Back to Chris Brown!
Rumors fly in the Rihanna- Chris Brown domestic violence incident. The couple reunited and is trying to work through their issues. But this scenario is all too common. Without professional intervention and accountability on Chris Brown’s part, the likelihood of domestic violence happening again is all too probable.
Domestic violence is a crime against women (although some men are also abused) that is all too often hushed and silenced. The cycle of abuse, which starts with the battering, concludes with a contrite male who offers some sort of reassurance that it will never happen again. Often he will try very hard to be extremely attentive and may offer gifts to his victim. Women who do leave find it difficult to separate, whether for financial or emotional reasons. Like Rihanna, they all too often return after a short separation.
The Orlando Sentinel reported on Wednesday, March 04, 2009 the statistics for Orange County. Did you know that there were 132,821 incidents of domestic violence here? It reported that medical costs for these victims cost an estimated $62.3 million in 2008. Mental health costs to provide services to the victims reached an estimated $31.4 million. With the heightened levels of stress that families are experiencing with the economy, the incidents of domestic violence are only going to increase.
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Author: Evelyn Wenzel, MSW, LCSW, CAP
