This startling statistic—reported by the Santa Clara County Probation Department—is one that California Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn knows well. As a child she was a victim of domestic violence.

Cohn represents the 24th Assembly District, which includes the Silicon Valley communities of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, and portions of Los Altos, San Jose and Sunnyvale. She's a leading advocate for the eradication of domestic violence.

During the month of October—dedicated to domestic violence awareness—Cohn is traveling throughout the Bay Area talking to local communities and spreading the word that help is available for victims caught in violent relationships.

As chairperson for the Assembly Select Committee on Domestic Violence, she authored hallmark legislation—during her first year in office—Assembly bills 469 and 477.

Since the passage of AB 477, a person accused of domestic violence is required to appear in court so a restraining order can be put in place. Prior to the bill's passage an attorney could represent the accuser, which delayed the issuing of a restraining order.

"The bill closed a loophole in the law," Cohn says.

Her second bill—AB 469—requires police responding to a domestic violence call to inquire if any weapons are present and to confiscate them. Prior to the bill, the weapons had to be visible to be subject to removal.

These changes have given authorities greater flexibility, says Campbell Police Chief David Gullo. The same protocol is followed throughout Santa Clara County, which enables law enforcement to aggressively go after domestic violence offenders.

"We have found that trying to talk to people and ask them to work it out doesn't solve the problem," Gullo says. "The only thing that works is aggressive enforcement of the law."

It is a solution that Cohn advocates, after growing up in a home where passive behavior proved futile.

"I remember calling the police one time because my stepfather was beating my mother so badly I thought he would kill her," she says. "But my stepfather was a prominent member of the community and he was able to conspire with the police to turn things around by putting the blame on us, so the police ignored the physical evidence."

Cohn eventually left the abusive household and went on to get an education. However, her mother was dependent on her husband for financial support and remained in the relationship. Her mother's situation fueled Cohn's passion to help others eliminate some of the barriers that can trap them in abusive relationships.

"I have a deep and abiding commitment to shift awareness by speaking out and breaking the silence," she says. "My commitment is to designing public policy that eradicates the problem in California and other places."

It is also the motivation behind her 2002 Assembly bills—1909 and 2252.

Through the passage of AB 1909, victims are ensured uniformity in the judicial process statewide when domestic violence cases appear in the courts. With the passage of AB 2252, victims of a serial sex offender can have their cases tried together in any county where the offender committed one or more of his sexual assaults.

And Cohn says she is just getting started.

"There are a lot of challenges and I am up to them all," she says. "I will be working on this until my very last breath."

Telling her personal story is also part of her awareness campaign to fight domestic violence.

As a young child living in Texas with her mother and four brothers, her life took a nightmarish turn when her mother remarried. From the age of 7 through her high school years, Cohn's stepfather, whom she describes as an "alcoholic batterer," threatened her by saying, "If you tell anyone, you will pay, and so will your brothers and your mother."

It kept her from speaking out for a long time, she says.

"I would be beaten so severely that the injuries were obvious and I would be kept home from school so no one would see," Cohn says. "I got very good at hiding, whether it was on the roof of our two-story house, the attic, a crawl space or the top of a tree to avoid those direct blows."

Cohn experienced more than fear during her childhood years; she says she experienced terror.

Cohn wants people to understand that at the root of domestic violence is someone trying to control another person by isolating the person with threatening and violent behavior. The strategy is usually successful.

"I certainly couldn't have any friends over," Cohn says.

It also affected Cohn's ability to perform in school. She would lay awake all night listening to her stepfather yell, scream and beat her mother.

Cohn credits a high school teacher with saving her life.

"Someone took the time to recognize that my distraction in school and sadness I manifested wasn't just because I was a teenager," she says.

But it's taken years before terminology like domestic violence, child abuse and spousal abuse have become part of our language and recognized as serious societal issues, Cohn notes.

During the past decade, victims of domestic violence have slowly gained ground through the passage of proactive legislation, increased advocacy and the support of law enforcement.

Victims have more options than were available 10 years ago, such as the emergency protective restraining order (EPRO), which the victim can obtain from a police officer responding to a domestic violence call. The EPRO immediately removes the batterer from the premises and prevents him from being in contact with the victim.

A batterer can also be immediately arrested if he is found to be in violation of a restraining order. Victims can also request to have a police officer present to make sure everyone remains safe while the victim or the batterer is gathering items from a home.

There are also numerous shelters that assist and support battered women and children.

Until six months ago the Campbell Police Department had assistance from a local advocacy agency—the Support Network for Battered Women—which followed up on domestic violence police calls, but the funding grant ran out, Gullo says.

"They checked our work and talked with the victim. It filled a gap for us," he says.

Such advocacy agencies serve the victims and help provide a safety net, says Campbell Police Capt. Dave Dehaan, chairperson for the police­victim relations subcommittee of the Santa Clara Domestic Violence Council.

Dehaan says countywide statistics for 2001 show Campbell having the greatest number of calls for assistance with domestic violence situations—209, compared to the surrounding cities of Los Gatos (61), Saratoga (46), Monte Sereno (6), and Cupertino (61), which are part of District 24.

"The higher number of incidents could be because people have a greater awareness and are calling in more," he says. "It's doesn't necessarily mean the situation is on the rise."

Cohn agrees and says, "I think the tide is turning toward recognizing domestic violence is unacceptable by the increase in the number of cases being reported."

But she emphasizes that the challenges a victim faces are enormous.

Often a victim is deeply afraid, financially dependent on the abuser and concerned that her children will be taken away by the courts, Cohn says, and many times these women escape their pain by turning to drugs or alcohol, which leads to other problems.

She also stresses that it's a crime that crosses all socioeconomic levels.

"Lots of people think domestic violence doesn't happen in wealthy communities, but it does," she says. Her message to all batterers is simple, "If you hurt a loved one, you go to jail."

For more information or for assistance with a domestic violence situation, call the following local hotline numbers: Support Network for Battered Women: 800.572.2782, Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence: 408.279.2962, Community Solutions: 408.683.4118, and Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Domestic Violence Program: 408.975.2739. Contact Assemblymember Rebecca Cohn's District Office at 901 Campisi Way, Suite 300, Campbell, 95008 or 408.369.8170.

For additional information on domestic violence, visit www.growing.com/nonviolent.