Posted on 05/26/2003 6:02:53 AM PDT by chance33_98
Families combat violence
West Virginia ranks fourth in the nation for domestic assault
By EDWARD MARSHALL
Journal Staff Writer
MARTINSBURG - The goal of a recent Shenandoah Women's Center-sponsored public forum was to help increase public awareness of the growing problem of domestic violence throughout West Virginia.
But the forum's low turnout left some officials and audience members discouraged their message isn't reaching the public.
"I just thought it was interesting that we sent out over 400 flyers as well as doing a good job of publicizing the forum well in advance, yet the community didn't respond as we had hoped," said Ann Smith, executive director for the Shenandoah Women's Center.
Smith said there is a false notion that domestic violence is more of a personal issue and not an issue that affects the entire community.
For victims, the violence is deeply personal. For the community, domestic violence has a number of indirect, detrimental effects.
Increased court costs and caseloads, increased medical and insurance costs, more police hours diverted to handling domestic violence calls and businesses held liable if the violence occurs in the workplace are just a few examples.
In the case of medical and insurance costs, about 37 percent of women who seek treatment in emergency rooms for violence- related injuries were injured by a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend.
Since domestic violence became a crime in 1992, West Virginia has made great strides in attempting to educate the public about the problem of domestic violence and where victims can go to get help.
The violence emerges from the dark
"Years ago, you didn't hear so much about it," said Beth Shelley, of the Shenandoah Women's Center. "There was kind of a 'good ol' boy' attitude - it was a man thing. Now, it's starting to come more out in the open."
"Back then, when I was younger, nothing was said about it. You used to talk with people over the fence and ask them, 'Could you hear the beating last night?'" said Avis Baskerville of Martinsburg.
"Ten years ago, I never heard of shelters, domestic violence, or statewide programs. It wasn't until I started reading articles and getting information that my eyes opened up," Shelley said.
"Police are much more helpful now, too, A long time ago it used to be that the police had to witness the person beating you to do anything about it," said Vicki Johnson, of the Shenandoah Women's Center.
Though services are available to victims from state-funded agencies and nonprofit independent organizations like the Women's Center, domestic violence is a growing problem.
While West Virginia historically has had a low crime rate, domestic violence and intimate partner violence are common.
West Virginia has the fourth highest number of reported incidents of domestic violence in the entire country. And reported domestic violence incidents rose from 2,565 incidents in 1989 to 10,397 in 1998, according to statistics from the West Virginia Department of Justice.
In 1998, 30 percent of all West Virginia homicides were related to domestic violence. Every two weeks, there is a domestic violence-related homicide in West Virginia.
Heather Moses, of the Shenandoah's Women center, said one of the biggest myths is that domestic violence only affects specific segments of the population such as the underprivileged or the poor.
"Anybody can be affected by it. Domestic violence is about power and maintaining power. The abuser uses power to control the victim. Anyone, any class, gender, age, race or religion can become a victim. One of the biggest myths is that it only affects those in the lower classes," Moses said.
The FBI estimates 50 percent of women in the United States will be involved in a violent relationship some time in their lives. A Common Wealth Fund survey conducted in 1998 found that nearly one-third of American women reported being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some time.
Thirty percent of Americans report that they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband or boyfriend in the past year.
Police are on the front lines of the fight
Combatting domestic violence is not easy. Police, courts, victims' services and the victims themselves face an uphill battle.
Solving the problem requires a close examination of all sides of the issue, officials say.
Police officers in West Virginia are often on the front lines of the battle. Domestic violence presents one of the highest risks in an officer's job.
The most well-known recent event was in Elkins when several officers were wounded while attempting to serve a domestic violence warrant on a man who allegedly had shot a police officer the day before.
And just days after Trooper First Class R.J. Elswick was awarded the purple heart medal earlier this month for being critically wounded in the line of duty in October 2002 after responding to a report of a domestic dispute, another West Virginia state trooper was shot.
On May 11, Senior Trooper F.E. Holcomb, 29, of the Point Pleasant Detachment, was ambushed in Mason County and shot while responding to a domestic dispute in progress.
Sgt. E.D. Burnett of the West Virginia State Police's Martinsburg Detachment said officers are trained to respond to domestic violence situations, but the inherent unpredictability at the scene can still pose a significant danger.
"In terms of danger on a scale of one to ten, I'd say domestic calls are about an eight or a nine," said Burnett.
Capt. Barb Bartley, of the Martinsburg City Police Department, agreed.
"It's extremely dangerous," Bartley said. "The standoff in Elkins proves the point. That and incidents such as the Elswick shooting really hit close to home."
(Excerpt) Read more at journal-news.net ...
Wonder how they got that number? (Random # generator?)
Bill Clinton will head it, and all women will be told to "put some ice on it"
Even then the figure seems high. Maybe they include things like a man hitting a wall or table out of anger.
How do you get from there to "The FBI estimates 50 percent of women in the United States will be involved in a violent relationship some time in their lives."?
Am I missing something?
corollary %0% of all men are involved in violent relationships! Yikes! Shocked, I'm shocked!
Probably also had to include women who were were in the adjacent apartment when the guy hit the wall.
BTW, notice how the list includes "girlfriends" of women who are battered. Homosexual and lesbian relationships are noted for high levels of violence. Including this skews the numbers further, while still making men look like the culprits.
Hey, I hear 2/3 of all college students will get raped ...
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