Domestic violence is not a joke. . .can't tell on social media, though

As the Ray Rice story turns, some asshats people on social media have turned domestic violence into a joke.

Here's what the unfunny comic Gary Owens said:

Gary Owenabout an hour ago

A man should never spit on a woman. Same for you ladies unless you giving that sloppy toppy then spit away.

Here's a meme making the rounds:

And on Twitter, frozen pizza maker DiGiorno  used the hashtag #WhyIStayed, which women were using to tell their story about abusive relationships to promote their product.

This is unacceptable and not funny. Domestic violence kills 4,000 women a year. 4,000. That is not a joke.

DEFINITION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCEDomestic violence is a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors, including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, as well as economic coercion, that adults or adolescents use against their intimate partner. 

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS: 

•  A pattern of behaviors including a variety of tactics - some physically injurious and some not, some criminal and some not - carried out in multiple, sometimes daily episodes. 
•  A pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors, including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, as well as economic coercion. 
• A combination of physical force and terror used by the perpetrator that causes physical and psychological harm to the victim and children. 
•  A pattern of purposeful behavior, directed at achieving compliance from or control over the victim. 
• Behaviors perpetrated by adults or adolescents against their intimate partner in current or former dating, married or cohabiting relationships of heterosexuals, gays and lesbians. 

Prepared by Anne L. Ganley, Ph.D. for the Family Violence Prevention Fund

 Are you still laughing?

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STATISTICS

• One out of every three women will be abused at some point in her life.
• Battering is the single major cause of injury to women, exceeding rapes, muggings and auto accidents combined.
• A woman is more likely to be killed by a male partner (or former partner) than any other person.
• About 4,000 women die each year due to domestic violence.
• Of the total domestic violence homicides, about 75% of the victims were killed as they attempted to leave the relationship or after the relationship had ended.
• Seventy-three percent of male abusers were abused as children.
• Thirty percent of Americans say they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband in the past year.
• Women of all races are equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate partner.
• On average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or partners in this country every day.
• Intimate partner violence a crime that largely affects women. In 1999, women accounted for 85% of the victims of intimate partner violence.
• On average, a woman will leave an abusive relationship seven times before she leaves for good.
• Approximately 75% of women who are killed by their batterers are murdered when they attempt to leave or after they have left an abusive relationship.

Keep laughing, but I hope you're praying that the women in your life won't be the one out of three women who gets assaulted by a man who is supposed to love her.