Gostivar, Radovis, Kumanovo, Tetovo, Sveti Nikole, Stip. Six towns, one police bulletin, and seven cases of domestic violence reported over a span of a little more than twenty-four hours.

In Gostivar, a 46-year-old man was detained after a report that he physically assaulted his 47-year-old wife and threatened her. The same day, in the same town, a 30-year-old woman was also detained - her 62-year-old father reported that after a brief argument she attacked him using a wooden object, injuring him.

In Radovis, a 46-year-old woman is suspected of physically assaulting her 72-year-old mother in the house where she was staying. She was held at the police station and the public prosecutor was notified. In Kumanovo, a 49-year-old man was detained after a report that he assaulted his wife. A criminal complaint for "bodily injury" and "endangering safety" was filed against a 38-year-old man from Tetovo - according to the Interior Ministry, he threatened and physically assaulted his wife in the family home.

In Sveti Nikole, a 37-year-old man, under the influence of alcohol, damaged part of the furnishings in the family home and threatened family members. He was placed in custody. In Stip, a 51-year-old man reported that after an argument he was physically assaulted by his son, who also used a hard object.

Every one of these cases is somebody's decision

There is a habit in the way news like this gets reported - pile it all into one paragraph, count it up, then move on to the next topic. That is precisely what makes it invisible. Behind each of these seven lines stands one person who raised a hand against another person they live with under the same roof, and another person who is sleeping in that same house tonight.

What the police bulletin does show is that the system responds - there are detentions, there is custody, there are prosecutors being notified. What it does not show is what happens afterwards, once the paperwork is done and the reported person goes back home. How many of these households will turn up in the same bulletin next month?

Domestic violence is not a private matter to be sorted out between four walls, and the number seven in a single day is no coincidence in a country of fewer than two million people. It is a pattern. And as long as the pattern stays the same, so will the next twenty-four hours.