According to the Chroncile, who pored over an early version of a 2011 report compiled by the city's Department on the Status of Women, the number of domestic violence reports rose sharply from 2010 - 2011. According to preliminary data on the arly part of 2012, those numbers shot up again as news broke about Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi's arrest for domestic abuse.

Per the Chronicle's assessment, the spike in reported cases and hotline calls around tghe beginning of this year refutes the claim "by Mirkarimi's supporters and some advocates for domestic violence victims that the intense media scrutiny on the sheriff's case would scare abused women into staying quiet."

Mayor Lee and District Attorney Gascón recently held a press conference to go over what they called "sobering data," but neither official was ready to state for sure whether the increasing number of domestic violence reports means more victims are aware of the need to report instances of abuse or if there has been a dramatic increase in family violence since 2010. One thing the report does show is that domestic abuse is prevalent across all socioeconomic categories, ethnicities and ages in the city.

Unfortunately for those of us still baffled by some venomous comments directed at women who came forward to speak out against domestic violence during Mirkairmi's final official misconduct hearing last month, we most likely won't see how the lengthy trial and the hearing itself affected the number of reported instances until 2013 at the earliest.

The Chronicle's report has more on the specific numbers.