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19 J. Juv. L. 196 (1998)
The Child Witness as a Victim of Domestic Violence: Prosecuting the Batterer under California's Child Abuse Statute

handle is hein.journals/jjuvl19 and id is 206 raw text is: THE CHILD WITNESS AS A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: PROSECUTING THE BATTERER UNDER CALIFORNIA'S CHILD ABUSE STATUTE I. INTRODUCTION One can scarcely imagine a more traumatic situation for a child than to witness a violent attack on someone they love. Yet such in- stances occur daily,1 with incredible psychological and societal impli- cations.2 Studies indicate that up to six million people are the victims of domestic violence annually in the United States,3 and at least one- half of these attacks occur in the presence of children.' Experts esti- mate the range of children who witness physical and sexual assaults in their homes at between 3.3 and 10 million each year. Current research suggests that witnessing violence may be as harm- ful as being the victim of violence-whether it is a parent, brother or sister who suffers the abuse. This makes sense. We feel ex- tremely helpless, frustrated and angry when we see someone we love suffering at the hands of someone else we love or should at least trust.6 More has to be done to protect the children from this form of child abuse which shows no outward signs of physical trauma, but causes great mental suffering. California prosecutors are using an in- novative strategy to meet this challenge by prosecuting domestic bat- terers for causing mental suffering to the child under California Penal Code section 273a(b),7 a misdemeanor child abuse statute. 1. Kate Sproul, California's Response to Domestic Violence, CALIFORNIA SENATE OFFICE OF RESEARCH (1996) (688 incidents of domestic violence are reported, on aver- age, every day in California.). 2. See generally THE IMPACT OF DoMESTIc VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN, A REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION (1994) and Betsy McAlister et al., Silent Victims: Children Who Witness Violence, 269 JAMA 262 (1993). 3. Alan J. Tomkins et al., The Plight of Children Who Witness Woman Battering: Psychological Knowledge and Policy Implications, 18 L. & PSYCHOL. REv. 137, 139 (1994) (citing Murray A. Straus, Conceptualization and Measurement of Battering: Implications for Public Policy, WOMAN BATTERING: POLICY RESPONSES 19, 24-32 (1991)). 4. Id. (citing P.G. JAFFE ET AL., CHILDREN OF BATTERED WOMEN (1990)). 5. ABA REPORT, supra note 2, at 1. 6. STEvE TSUCHIYAMA, FAMILY PROBLEMS 27 (1994). 7. CAL. PENAL CODE § 273a (West 1997).

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