New Orange County report sheds light on old domestic violence problems – Orange County Register

Firearms in the home, drug use, sudden departure from work – the presence of any or all of these could be signs that a troubled family relationship could shift from anger and frustration. when violence comes to death.

So said a long-term domestic violence investigation is expected to be announced Wednesday, February 16 at UC Irvine by a team of Orange County attorneys, investigative officials, providers, and attorneys. service providers and police leaders.

According to the report, other causes, ranging from a widespread economic downturn like the Great Depression, to divorce proceedings and individual child custody, could also be factors that make domestic partnerships worse. become deadlocked.

Although domestic violence has long been considered a social problem, the authors of the “Assessment of Domestic Violence Mortality” say their study provides important new information and was the first local study to delve into the most serious cases of abuse; people who have had their own lives killed or taken as a result of intimate partner violence.

By reviewing each case and tracking how previous participants connected with (or failed to connect with) official channels – including courts, healthcare providers, and agencies domestic abuse – researchers have been looking for patterns that could prove helpful in reducing domestic violence and preventing future deaths.

Maricela Rios-Faust, research project co-director and executive director of Human Options, an Orange County organization dedicated to helping victims of violence.

“One of the most challenging aspects of domestic violence is nuance,” added Rios-Faust. “Once you learn that there is nuance and you learn to listen, you will hear stories in a different way.”

Stigma still exists

In total, the 10-member team behind the project – the Orange County Domestic Violence Mortality Assessment Team – tracked 113 deaths related to 74 criminal cases that took place between 2006 and 2017, in that a close partner has killed one or more people. Time is limited for cases that have been formally heard in court and can be clearly labeled as domestic violence. The death toll includes people involved in a case that involved one of the partners and those – often the perpetrator – who died by suicide.

But as serious as the local numbers are, national data show that the report only looks at a fraction of domestic sex murders that took place in Orange County during the time in question. Overall, about 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, and many never talk about it.

In local research, 88% of victims identified as female and 12% as male. But the total death toll included 48 men, about three-quarters of whom committed suicide after killing or injuring their sexual partners. Those numbers also reflect national statistics.

Although advocates have for decades raised awareness of domestic violence and generations have grown up hearing that victims of abuse are not at fault, Rios-Faust and others involved The report says longstanding social stigmas continue to affect them. Those stigmas, they added, still make people reluctant to disclose the threat they face to anyone who might be able to protect them. Overall, about one-third of domestic abuse victims never report it.

That silence can be key in abuse cases that lead to death. In the cases studied for the Orange County report, less than half (46%) of those killed by an intimate partner had a relationship that authorities believe had a history of domestic violence, and only 9% of cases involved legal embargo. .

“Shame is the main message from an abuser,” says Rios-Faust. “They tell the victim ‘It’s your fault’ or ‘If you just keep the house clean’ or ‘Keep the kids quiet’ or whatever, then (the violence) won’t happen.

“And, in our efforts to help and support victims, we often ask, ‘Why did she stay?’ Rios-Faust added.

“But when we do that, we are re-enforcing that message of shame. Hopefully, that’s something we can change.”

Risk factors

Jorge Cisneros, the police chief in Anaheim and a member of the team behind the study, thinks that reluctance to talk about abuse could be combined with another risk factor – the presence of firearms in the home – to turn a troubled relationship into a deadly one. . Nearly three-quarters (72%) of the deaths studied in local reporting involve guns, a number that matches national data.

“We are not always able to prevent these types of crimes, which mainly happen behind closed walls and doors,” said Cisneros, who recently presented the report to a police meeting. Orange County Sheriff and Chief of the Sheriff’s Department, said.

Guns can increase violence, and Cisneros said a 2018 California law that could prevent people convicted of even minor home assaults from ever legally possessing a gun shows “we thinking and going in the right direction.”

(The report suggests, however, that enforcement of that law is lax. In 2019, the state estimated that at least 5,750 people in California may have been barred from owning a firearm because domestic abuse criminals still own them.) a gun.)

The report references a 2003 national study that found the presence of firearms in the home increased the death rate from domestic violence by 500%. And more clearly, the report that a domestic partner or relative was shot to death in Orange County at least every six weeks during the 10 years included in the study.

But the report also found another risk factor beyond guns – previous acts of domestic abuse linked to suffocation.

About 1 in 10 of the deaths in the Orange County study were victims of strangulation, and most of these people had been strangled in a previous incident before they died. The report says national data shows that cases of domestic violence involving choking increase mortality, the latter, by 750%.

Other risk factors include mental illness, drug abuse, and job insecurity. Although the numbers associated with local reports are not large enough to make statistically valid associations, the report does show an increase in homicides in the country in the immediate years. after the Great Recession, which was particularly difficult in Orange County because of the area’s connection to the mortgage industry.

Advocates say the pandemic – which was not included in the report – is another factor that has almost certainly increased the number of homicides in the country.

“About six months into the pandemic, we can see that stress is already high,” said Rios-Faust, who runs an emergency shelter for victims of domestic abuse. “And about 50% of our shelter survivors described strangulation as a method of abuse. To me, that jump is a sign that the problem is particularly bad. ”

Interventions

The city’s police chief, Cisneros, said Anaheim made domestic violence a priority. The city and the police department work together to provide one-stop services for victims, which means everyone can seek protection, advice and legal help without having to see multiple agencies. .

In theory, that kind of help could spread domestic violence cases before they become fatal.

Jane Stoever, co-chair of the report and professor of law at UC Irvine who heads the school’s Domestic Violence Clinic, said the cases highlighted in the study illustrate how courts can also become should be better at preventing family murders.

Stoever noted that about half of the cases studied in the report were connected to family court in some way. That means the victim has connected with someone who can help them.

“There are already known points for earlier intervention,” says Stoever.

During divorce proceedings and child custody hearings, she says, abusers may feel “they are on the verge of losing everything,” a belief that can increase the stakes and violence.

“Judges have an opportunity to send a message to everyone in the case that these are dangerous times,” Stoever said. “It’s a public health message.”

Both Stoever and Rios-Faust said the report shows that, in general, domestic violence is a public health problem. And, to that end, Stoever says people should be taught earlier — in their teens — about how to avoid abusive relationships and stay away from abusers. If domestic violence were seen as a health crisis, not just a legal or social problem, intervention could become more frequent, she said.

“We all have a responsibility in this,” Stoever said. “And we need to normalize these conversations.”