NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A new study conducted by the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University points to the alarming amout of violence residents in the state have experienced.

Institute Executive Director Dr. Anita Raj said, “Unfortunately, more than half of the people in Louisiana have experienced physical or sexual assault.”

That fact is one of the more revealing stats in the new Louisiana Violence Experiences Survey or LaVEX.

Raj, the research lead on the project also stated, “Slightly more than one in 100 women have experienced the threat or use of a gun against them by an intimate partner in just the last year.”

The survey also notes that 80% of the physical violence against women occurred at home.

“We’ve seen a recent spate of domestic violence homicides in New Orleans and this is something that tells us that we cannot wait for people to report and criminal justice to be involved we have got to start working on violence prevention now,” said Raj.

LaVEX also offers the state a chance at solutions. “Violence experiences often start in adolescence and young adulthood, and I think that we need to be focused on prevention with young people. School-based preventions have worked. Another area that works is called bystander or interrupter behavior. Bystanders are people when we train community members to speak out when they see these issues. We often say nothing and it’s time to say this isn’t an acceptable behavior,” said Raj.

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