The statistics are staggering: one in three women faces the threat of domestic abuse. Thirty-seven percent of women’s emergency hospital visits are the result of domestic violence. In the United States alone, fifteen hundred women are murdered each year by their husband or boyfriend.

Terror at Home provides an unflinching look at some of the personal stories that lie behind these statistics. The violence cuts across all lines—racial, educational, and financial. The film introduces working-class women and wealthy women living in million-dollar homes and paints a picture of their strikingly similar vulnerabilities and responses to abuse. The film discusses many women’s shame, desire to hide their situation from family members, and their fear of seeking help, all compounded by their responsibility to their children.

Nancy, like many of the other women, thought it would be better to stay married and tolerate constant physical abuse than attempt to flee and risk being fatally assaulted. Tracy needs a police presence to give her the courage to retrieve her possessions from her former home. Barbara is so frightened she requires three policemen to persuade her it is safer to go to a shelter than remain at home.

The film illustrates the counseling sessions, group therapy, and battered-women’s groups that provide help to these victims and shows the legal system’s role in curtailing the cycle of violence. This powerful film sends an important message about the need for breaking the silence surrounding abuse.

Western Psychological Association 2007
Award Winner, Western Psychological Association 2007