Fewer than one-fourth of domestic violence incidents are reported to law enforcement, said Shannon Barry, executive director of Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) in Madison.

Those who do report their abuse often encounter less violence in the future, she said.

“Each and every one of us has an affirmative obligation to actually move out of our comfort zone, to say something or at least extend a hand or listening ear to someone who we might think may need assistance,” Koval said.

Koval said domestic violence often is grounded in abuser self-esteem, power and control issues.

Emotional and physical abuse often starts once the victim trusts the abuser, and can evolve into increasingly violent behavior and even homicide if the victim becomes more assertive or the abuser starts to lose control of the victim, Barry said.

In addition, abusers often have a pattern of mistreating partners, she said.

“It does sound as though (Sykes) may have had previous challenges with other relationships, and that’s also very typical, where somebody may move on from one relationship to another and continue violence in a new relationship,” Barry said.