Butte County is currently ranked 17th in the state for domestic violence reports. The numbers in the county have steadily gone down in the last 10 years but are still high compared to the California average.
In the 2015 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, domestic violence rates in Butte County are the lowest they have been in 10 years.
In Butte County, there were 3,339 reports of child abuse, a subgroup of domestic violence, in 2015.
The age group for this abuse ranged from younger than one year old to 11-15-year-olds. The highest rate of abuse, at 30 percent, was inflicted upon children between the ages of 6-10 years old.
Forty-one percent of the children experiencing abuse in Butte County were between the ages of 1 and 6 years old.
Types of abuse are varied. However, general neglect and emotional abuse are the most common in the county, making up 75 percent of total abuse reports. Physical and sexual abuse make up 20 percent of total reports.
Intimate-partner abuse is the most common abuse in Butte County, according to Catalyst Domestic Violence Services, and can range from isolation to sexual abuse by any current or past partner.
In 2014, there were 943 reports of domestic violence in the county. This number is probably higher, because it doesn’t include the high number of incidents that aren’t reported by victims, according to Karlynn King, a Chico State College of Social Work grad student.
“Typically people fear that there will be repercussions from their abuser or the community around them if they turn their abusers in,” King said. “There is such a stigma around domestic violence and that victims are weak when they don’t escape, but sometimes they really don’t feel like they have a choice. They are hopeless.”
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Charts made by Whitney Urmann |
Organizations such as SafePlace and Catalyst are working to lower the high numbers of abuse in the county by educating and offering resources to victims.
Catalyst offers a 24-hour anonymous hotline as well as a place for women and children who have been abused to stay during transition.
“Domestic violence is 100 percent preventable,” said Anita Glass, a counselor for Chico Unified School District. “It’s all about being educated to see the signs before something happens.”
By Whitney Urmann