Domestic Violence Decreases During Holiday Season?

For lots of people, the holiday season is a time of joy and merriment. For some, the vacations are a time of worry, anxiousness, and unfavorable family conflicts. It has actually been reported over the years by various news firms that the incidents of domestic physical violence are higher throughout the vacations than the rest of the year.

These reports led us to do some examination around the data and rationale behind this worrying fact, which exposed surprising results. It ends up that very few studies have been performed to track the correlation between residential physical violence and vacations. According to the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV), many of the available reports dealing with the prevalence of domestic physical violence during the vacations are anecdotal or opinion pieces where the dated cited often comes from an individual or one shelter’s experiences.

According to the NRCDV, among the few of reputable studies on this problem was conducted in 2005, which explored the incidence and characteristics of intimate partner physical violence in Idaho, a rural mountain state. This study, titled Intimate Partner Violence Incidence and Characteristics: Idaho NIBRS 1995 to 2001 Information, evaluated seven years of National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data to contrast the incidences of intimate partner violence in Idaho, as compared with the rest of the country.

The results of this study revealed that there is a strong relationship between particular vacations and incidence reports of intimate partner violence, however not the correlation that had been prediced. According to the research, Thanksgiving, Christmas and (not so unexpectedly) Valentine’s Day had below the general trend of any type of average non-holiday. New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July had greater reports of domestic violence than the regular day-to-day average. In certain, New Year’s Day had 2.7 times more occurrences of domestic violence, followed by the 4th of July.

The study’s description of these unexpected statistics is that, historically intimate partner violence occurs during the night and on the weekends, and in locations where there was greater seclusion from others who might step in on the victim’s behalf (i.e. the house). The research also held that Intimate partner violence is also more likely on vacations when use of alcohol increases.

Another research, conducted by The National Domestic Physical violence Hotline (NDVH) has actually performed an analysis for the years 2004 through 2009, and found that the reports of residential violence not only lower during the vacation period, but that the decrease is dramatic. According to the NDVH research:.

– Nationwide phone call volume during the week of Thanksgiving reduces by about 15 %, and visits around 45 % to 60 % on Thanksgiving Day.

– During the vacation season from December 15 to January 1, call volume visit around 5 % to 25 %, and call volume on the actual vacations (Christmas Eve and Day, New Year’s Eve and Day) drops significantly by about 50 %.

– Once the vacation season is over, there is a typical 5 % boost in call volume over the next two weeks.

In spite of these stats that stated residential violence decreases during the holidays, it is clear that the incidences do not stop happening. If you or anyone you understand is a sufferer of domestic violence, it is necessary to call your local authorities and find aid of a knowledgeable family attorney.