IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 20, Issue 2, Ver. III (Feb. 2015), PP 56-59 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Dr. Mrs. B. Bala Parameswari M.A., M.Phil, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History, S.F.R. College for women, Sivakasi. Abstract: Human rights are the basic and absolute rights that every person has because he or she is a human being. Every human being has these rights although the extent to which they can be enforced in practice varies from country to country. At the international level most of these basic human rights have been described in the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. While there is considerable variation in national legislation between countries, most constitutions worldwide state that everyone is equal before the law, and that each person is entitled to equal protection under the law without any discrimination. A growing body of clinical experience and research reveals that domestic violence and child abuse occur in the same families and are highly associated with similar social and economic risk factors; Data also show that children growing up in violent families are more likely to engage in youth violence. Furthermore, the social and economic risk factors for youth violence correspond to the risk factors for domestic violence and child abuse. Given these findings, an effective strategy to combat child abuse, domestic violence and youth violence would be a collaborative, community-based prevention/early intervention effort that aims to reduce the social and economic risk factors for at-risk families. This paper outlines proposed components of such a program and presents a strong argument for the development of national and local collaborative prevention efforts between the three fields. Keywords: Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Youth Violence, Child Trafficking. I. Introduction Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that impacts every segment of the population. While system responses are primarily targeted toward adult victims of abuse, increased attention is now being focused on the children who witness domestic violence. Studies estimate that 10 to 20 percent of children are at risk for exposure to domestic violence. Research also indicates children exposed to domestic violence are at an increased risk of being abused or neglected. II. Overlap And Consequences Of Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, And Youth Violence Child abuse and domestic violence often occur in the same family and are linked in a number of important ways that have serious consequences for the safety of all family members as well as for members of the larger community. First, where one form of family violence exists, there is a strong like hood that the other one does too. Second, research shows that the impact on children of witnessing parental domestic violence is strikingly similar to the consequences of being directly abused by a parent, and both experiences are significant contributors to youth violence. Third, many of the factors highly associated with the occurrence of child abuse are also associated with domestic violence, and many of these are the same factors