Domestic violence can impact anyone, anywhere. In one Oklahoma town, victims have been married to doctors, lawyers, bankers, businessmen, ministers, and police officers.

Sometimes children of the victims witness the violence.

A tanking economy can produce stresses that trigger domestic violence, especially among economic victims of a contracting economy.

But the stresses of professional positions can also spur domestic violence.

And, of course, economic dependency can tie a victim to his or her abuser. As well as fear.

According to statistics, a victim may try to leave seven to ten times before they tear themselves away from their abuser once and for all.

Abuse victims often suffer from low self-esteem after years of abuse.

Being an abuser and being a victim can start young, in high school, dating.

Nine percent of kids in the US have been victims of violence by a boyfriend or girlfriend. That figure is twice as high in Oklahoma.

Also in Oklahoma, children witness one third of domestic violence homicides.

In the US in 2005, three women per day were killed by their husbands or boyfriends. Police had previously been called in twenty-eight percent of the cases.

Read more in this Muskogree [OK] Phoenix article: Domestic violence has devastating effects.