Joanna’s estranged husband had been mentally abusing her and threatening her for years, but he never lifted a hand against her until one morning in 2002 when he attacked her with a knife in front of their 5-year-old daughter, stabbing her 13 times.

“My daughter was shouting, ‘Daddy’s killing Mommy.’ I lost so much blood the emergency medical team was surprised I survived,” Joanna (not her real name) said in an interview.

Three years later, she has undergone a long series of operations but still suffers physical and mental effects. Her ex-husband could be out of prison as early as 2007.

Domestic violence is a huge law and order problem in the United States, and increasingly a hot political issue.

The statistics are somewhat unclear since many domestic assaults are never reported. However, in 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice estimated that up to 4 million women were physically abused by their intimate partners each year.

Violence by an intimate partner accounted for 21 percent of violent crime against women that year, while 76 percent of rapes and physical assaults against women were committed by current or former husbands, partners or boyfriends.

“One in every four women will be a victim of intimate partner violence at some time in their lives,” said Lynn Rosenthal of the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

“There was a tremendous jump in the number of assaults reported following the O.J. Simpson murder trial. More and more women are reaching out for help every year,” she said.

Simpson, a former football star, was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and a male friend after a dramatic trial in 1994-95.

The American Medical Association estimated in the early 1990s that family violence cost the nation up to $10 billion a year in medical expenses, police and court costs, shelter and foster care, sick leave, absenteeism and loss of productivity.

Most strikingly, the FBI estimates that almost a third of female murder victims are killed by their husbands or boyfriends. In Texas alone, over 185,000 incidents of domestic violence were reported in 2003 and 153 women were killed by an intimate partner.

SELF-HELP

The state recently introduced a new self-help guide for women to get protective orders without needing to hire a lawyer. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said: “Domestic violence has reached alarming levels in Texas, and often victims are too frightened or too financially strapped to get the help they need.”

In Dumfries, a suburban community 40 miles south of Washington, Kay Mathews directs Turning Points, a domestic violence program that includes a 24-hour hot-line, two short-term shelters and numerous counseling and education programs, including 18-week court-ordered courses for men who have abused their partners.

“Domestic violence cuts across every race, class, income level and culture and most domestic violence never comes to the attention of anybody,” Mathews said.

Police are more attuned to the problem and are now mandated to make an arrest when they are called into a domestic violence situation. The policy is to arrest the “predominant aggressor” but Mathews believes they often end up detaining a woman victim if she struck the first blow.

In 200O, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act, which brought millions of dollars to local communities for law enforcement, prosecution and victims services.

The act is due to expire at the end of September and advocates are increasingly worried Congress will not have time to reauthorize it.

“The congressional calendar is very short now and we’re afraid they won’t get around to it in time. If the act expires, we can’t assume that funding will continue for the programs currently funded through the legislation,” Rosenthal said

In Virginia, former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, the presumptive Republican candidate for governor in the November election, is making domestic violence a central issue in his campaign.

The Virginia medical examiner’s office reported in October that for 2003, over 28 percent of the state’s 461 homicides were “intimate partner-related.”

Kilgore recently unveiled a proposal to require mandatory jail time for any person who violates a protective order: five days for the first offense, 10 days for the second and 90 days for the third. Judges now have discretion over whether violators should serve jail time.

Joanna thinks there is more the state can do. She moved to another community after her assault, but her attempts to change her daughter’s name were thwarted.

“They told me I couldn’t do it without informing my ex-husband,” she said. “They are still protecting the rights of the offender rather than the victim.”