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If you are in danger, please use a safer computer, call 911 or your local hotline or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233 voice), 1-800-787-3224 (tty). There is always a computer trail, but you can click ESCAPE to leave the site quickly.

While most women who have experienced intimate partner violence do not suffer from chemical dependence, it is important to acknowledge many women receiving services from domestic violence/sexual assault programs are dealing with addiction and recovery issues. One study of Illinois domestic violence shelters reveals that as many as 42% of service recipients abuse alcohol or other drugs (Bennett & Lawson, 1994). Researcher William Downs reports findings indicating one in four women in an Iowa shelter/safe home sample had a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol dependence and another one in four had alcohol or other drug problems (Downs, 2002).

The Women’s Action Alliance experience with a domestic violence shelter program over a fifteen-month period of time indicated 60-75% of the women seeking shelter services had developed problems with their original coping mechanisms, alcohol and drugs (Roth, 1991). Preliminary data from a National Institute on Drug Abuse study noted 90% of women in drug treatment had experienced severe domestic violence from a partner during their lifetime (Miller, 1994). Similar findings have been noted on monthly client service reports from the Alcohol/Drug Help Line Domestic Violence Outreach Project in Washington State (Bland, 2003). Clearly, a significant number of women and children seen in domestic violence agencies and sexual assault victim service programs suffer from substance abuse problems (Kubbs, 2000).

As recently as fifteen years ago, Finkelstein reported alcoholism and drug abuse were still viewed primarily as “men’s diseases” (Finkelstein, 1994). Substance abuse and addiction are women’s issues. According to the Washington State Coalition on Women’s Substance Issues, the physiological impact of substance abuse on women needs more attention. Women have higher blood alcohol levels than do males after consuming equal amounts of alcohol (LaGrange, 1994; Lieber, 1993). Research has documented women have a higher prevalence and greater severity of alcohol-related liver disease with shorter duration of alcohol use and lower consumption levels than men (Kubbs, 2000). Women also have higher death rates from alcohol-related damage (CSAT, 1994).

While using substances can initially serve as a survival strategy or coping mechanism anyone might use in the context of abuse, pain, illness or other trauma, studies indicate women are more likely to begin substance misuse in response to trauma. Women are likely to use prescription medication much more often than men. Seventy percent of prescriptions for tranquilizers, sedatives and stimulants are written for women (Roth, 1991). The Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women (1992) states that psychotropic medication is over-prescribed for battered women. They also note that women who have been abused may also use alcohol or drugs for a variety of other reasons, including: coercion by an abusive partner, chemical dependence, cultural oppression, or—for women recently leaving a battering relationship—a new sense of freedom.

Unfortunately, using substances for any reason becomes problematic when misuse occurs or addiction is indicated. A significant number of battered women and survivors of sexual assault with substance abuse or addiction issues typically experience discrimination and barriers to services. Ability to maintain employment, housing, health insurance or child custody may be threatened by public disclosure of current or past substance abuse problems. Societal attitudes tend to view addiction as a moral failing rather than as a health problem. This can lead to isolation and shame, which may be compounded when domestic violence and/or sexual assault co-occur. Most alarming of all is the impact of multiple abuse issues on safety. Safety is strongly compromised when domestic violence and chemical dependence co-occur. While these problems frequently co-occur, there is little evidence that either problem causes the other. Individually, each can be chronic, progressive and lethal. Together, severity of injuries and lethality rates climb for chemically dependent battered women (Dutton, 1992). These problems are compounded when perpetrators include sexual assault and other forms of sexual abuse in their arsenal of violence.