Domestic violence is a growing problem occurring not only in the United States but also throughout the world. It can happen between partners in a same-sex relationship or sometimes the man will be a victim of abuse by the female partner. However, most cases of domestic abuse that we know of involve women who have been battered by the abuse of their male partner. The reality is that every day the statistics on domestic violence become more and more frightening. According to Loseke and Kurz (2005), “families are, statistically speaking, very dangerous places for women but not for men: more than 40% of women's visits to hospital emergency rooms, resulting from intentional violence, were caused by their male intimates; intimate partner violence caused less than 5% of visits by men; for every man hospitalized for spousal assault, 46 women are hospitalized.” This just goes to show how big the problem of domestic violence is, especially in intimate partner violent (IPV) relationships. Intimate partner violence often includes sexual violence and can also include psychological abuse; both can also accompany physical violence (Jewkes, 2002). Many people probably don't think about it unless it happens to them or a friend. Domestic abuse against women can take many forms; women can be raped, physically, verbally or emotionally abused. They may also be victims of slaps, pushes, shoves, kicks, thrown objects or even suffocation. Violence against women, especially domestic violence, is a very difficult thing to detect because it is personal and intimate. To address this problem we must first understand what leads men to be violent towards women, then we must understand why victims decide not to... middle of paper... foreboding syndrome and the prosecution of domestic abuse and rape cases . Georgetown Journal Of Gender & The Law, 5(1), 149-165. Loseke, D. R., & Kurz, D. (2005). Men's violence against women is a serious social problem. Current controversies in family violence, 2, 79-96. Manuh, T., & Bekoe, A. A. (2010). Confronting violence. In S. Shaw and J. Lee, Women's Voices Feminist Visions (5 ed., pp. 537-540). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. O'Dell, A. (2007). Why do the police arrest victims of domestic violence? The need for comprehensive training and investigative protocols. Journal of Assault, Maltreatment, and Trauma, 15(3/4), 53-73.St. George, D. (2010). Textual Harassment. In S. Shaw and J. Lee, Women's Voices Feminist Visions (5 ed., pp. 540-542). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Wathen C, MacMillan HL. Interventions against violence against women: scientific review. JAMA, 2003, 289(5):589-600.