By Pierre R. Berastain

A good video of how domestic violence affects children in the United States and worldwide.  As the Restorative Justice Advocate at Renewal House, a domestic violence shelter in Boston, MA, I see the detrimental impact domestic violence has had on the lives of children.  According to UNICEF, more than 275 million children experience violence worldwide, and “if all the abused children in the world lived in one country, it would be roughly the size of Western Europe.”  In the United States alone, 3.3 million children experience domestic violence.  The statistics are shocking, given the indisputable link between suffering childhood abuse and perpetrating crime (according to the video, 90% of prisoners experience violence as children).  Yet, the resources for this epidemic crime are few.  In Massachusetts alone we have over 170 animal shelters while only fewer than 40 domestic violence shelters.

For a list of resources and information on domestic violence, please visit this site.