Introduction
The number of romantic relationships that are cohabitating is steadily increasing every year and the number of domestic violence incidents being reported to have also risen. There is thought to be a correlation between these two statistics rising. Cohabitation by definition is when two people share their residence, property, and daily lives without legally marrying. And Domestic violence, also known as intimate partner violence is defined as “A pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors that may include inflicted physical injury, psychological abuse, sexual assault, progressive social isolation, stalking, deprivation, intimidation and threats” by The Futures Without Violence Association (FWV). This research paper will discuss the ways cohabitation in relationships is correlated with domestic violence and propose a non-profit program to support those who are victims of domestic violence.

Research Topics
Domestic-violence-related police calls have been found to constitute the single largest category of calls received by police, accounting for 15 to more than 50 percent of all calls (Klein, 2009). Domestic violence is claiming a large part of women as victims who require additional support. Domestic violence is often time contributed to risk factors that can be broken up into four different categories. The first category is individual risk factors which include things like low income, young age, heavy alcohol and drug use, depression, history experiencing physical discipline as a child, and others. The second is relationship risk factors which include jealousy, possessiveness, and negative emotion within an intimate relationship, dominance and control of the relationship by one partner to another, and social isolation. The third is community risk factors which include poverty and weak community sanctions against domestic violence, meaning the community is overlooking obvious signs of abuse. The fourth is societal ri...