05:53 PM CST on Friday, February 3, 2006

By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA-TV

This weekend may be a big one for football fans but there's also a darker side many people may not realize.

Super Bowl Sunday is a very busy day for domestic violence calls.

Around the world - one out of every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime.

Many people watched yesterday's police car chase unfold on television. A man holding a rifle to his girlfriend after allegedly kidnapping her and her young daughter.

A Dallas woman, who does not want to be identified because she fears for her life, also has been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend and terrorized.

"When I saw that I actually cried. I really did cry.

"He was running through red lights and I am fearing for my life knowing he is going to do something to me."

She has repeatedly called Dallas police for help. The last time was after he followed her home from work.

"As I was walking down the street that is when he pulled me up by my hair and slung me on the concrete in the street."

She is not alone - there have been several high profile cases in recent months. In Lancaster, a woman's estranged husband kidnapped her son and allegedly killed him. He then kidnapped her and fled to Colorado.

Family violence experts say it is difficult to stop the terror because it is not easy for police to do anything unless the violence is already out of control.

"The thing that makes stalking so difficult is that something bad has to happen before you can have action taken against the other person," says Paige Flink from the Family Link.

This woman knows all too well and says she worries the next time she won't be able to get away and it will be too late.

Tips on domestic violence: change your pattern, change your phone number, move if you have to but the most important thing is to stop all contact with that person. Don't take their calls, don't engage them, as that is what they want.