Somewhere in America at this very moment, a woman is being abused.  She will be left with bruises, cuts, broken bones, and scars.  The scars that last forever are not physical; however, they are ones of mental anguish.  Her abuser is not a stranger, rather her husband or boyfriend.  In this country, domestic violence is almost as common as giving birth.  There is, however, hope for these women; help is available.
	Domestic violence occurs way too often in American society.  There are many reasons why people need to speak out against domestic violence.  One reason is that statistics show that most abusers will continue to abuse until they are arrested.  Another reason is that domestic violence doesn't only physically harm a woman; it also mentally harms the woman and any children involved.  The third reason is that help is available.  
	A man who physically abuses a woman can not be stopped unless he is given counseling, jailed, or killed.  He will continue to abuse until he is stopped, and ignoring the problem will definitely not help it go away.  Husbands and boyfriends send more women to the hospital each year than strangers do (Campbell 95).   The US Surgeon General reports that,  "domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to American women between the ages of fifteen and forty-four" (Briggs and Davis 94) .  Abusers need to be stopped before its too late for their victims.  
	Women are not the only victims of abuse.  Children who live in a situation where domestic violence is prevalent suffer in many ways.  The psychological impact of witnessing violence among many children is just as severe as if they had been the victims of physical or sexual abuse themselves (Krueger 94).   These children who witness abuse at home suffer in many unseen ways, and too often their pain goes untreated (Krueger 94).  If an abused woman does not have the guts to stand up for her own safety, the least she can do is protect her children.  An abused woman an innocent victim, but the children are even more innocent victims.  
	Many women feel that there is no one to help them escape domestic violence.  This assumption is extremely wrong.  There are many organizations designed especially to help abused women.   A group called Violence Against Women gives out grants that are used to create specialized police and prosecution units to deal with domestic violence (Campbell 95).  In addition to Violence Against Women grants, the government issued grants to forty-nine of the fifty states of $426,000 to train police officers to develop more effective strategies to prevent violent crimes against women (Campbell 95).  It is up to the abused women to stand up and use their power to make there abuser pay for their physical and mental violence.  Help is out there, it is up to the abused woman to reach out for it.  
	If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, help is available.  This help can be received by calling the local Women's Center at
784-6631.  
	The fight against domestic violence has just begun.  There has been much progress towards stopping the violence in the past couple of years, but the violence is still too prevalent.   If more people speak out against this violence, the world would be a much safer place.