Domestic violence

Domestic violence is classified by Multnomah County as a "pattern of assault and coercive behaviors, that batterers use in relationships to gain power & control over their intimate partners."[1]

At a Multnomah County Commissioners board meeting on October 7, 2010, commissioners declared that October be Domestic Violence Awareness Month.[2]

In 2008, 17 deaths in Oregon were associated with domestic violence. In 2009, that number jumped to 39. In 2010, investigators have already linked 43 deaths to domestic violence.

Legal system

If you were arrested in Oregon for a serious felony charge or a domestic violence offense, you will most likely be booked into custody and brought before a judge the next business day.[3]

Regional services

The need for domestic violence emergency shelters in the Portland remains high. Nine out of ten survivors who call crisis lines are turned down because of no bed space.

   * In Oregon, 48 percent of domestic violence survivors remain in an abusive relationship because they don’t have a safe, affordable place to live.
   * Last year, 76 percent of the individuals we served were under a direct death threat from an abuser before coming to our shelter.
   * Twenty-six percent of adult shelter residents had visited a hospital emergency room for abuse injuries within the past year.
   * Seven percent had spent one or more nights in a hospital for abuse injuries.
   * Thirty percent had been temporarily or permanently disabled from injuries due to abuse.[4]

Shelter is absolute necessity to escape abuse 50% increase in fatalities in county & state last year turn away 17,000 a year no increase in funding in over 10 years

National survey: Sept. 15 emergency 45: single women, 55 with children — 100 total turned away 89 requests for beds that same day