Domestic Violence: What Everyone Needs to Know Crime Victim Advocacy Center & Legal Advocates for Abuse Women

Abuse Can Take Many Forms:  Physical Abuse – purposely or knowingly causing physical harm to another with or without a weapon –BeatingBitingShoving –PunchingKickingHair pulling –SlappingPushing –KickingChoking

Types of Abuse  Emotional Abuse – Complete disregard for the feeling of another to the point that they feel inadequate, uncared for and/or worthless. –Threats of physical harmname calling –Humiliationpossessiveness –Threats of suicide –Verbal insults

Types of Abuse  Economic Abuse – the control of all financial resources without the involvement of the other party. –Denial of access to money –The use of money to control and/or intimidate

Types of Abuse  Sexual Abuse – causing or attempting to cause another to participate unwillingly in any sexual act by threats and/or force. –Sexual harassment –Rape –Incest –Threats of any of these

Types of Abuse  Harassment & Stalking – purposely or knowingly disturbing and/or following another with the intent of causing emotional distress. –Frequent, uninvited visits to your home or work –Frequent, annoying telephone calls

The Cycle of Violence  The Explosion –When the abuse happens  The De-escalation Phase –After the abuse takes place, the abuser may apologize, promise to never do it again, and do things like send flowers, etc. –This phase may become short and stop all together as the relationship continues and the abuse worsens.

The Cycle of Violence  The Tension Building Phase –This is the time period in which the victim may feel like they are ‘walking on egg shells’ and feel like the abuser could snap at any moment.  The Cycle of Violence may be different for each relationship or may not be existent at all.

Power and Control  Abuser’s try to control their victims in order to maintain their power over them and perpetuate the abuse. This tactic can be seen when abusers: –Control what the victim does, who she talks to and where she goes. –Intimidate the victim, putting her in fear by using looks, actions, gestures, etc.

Power and Control Continued –Threaten to take the children or commit suicide. –Keep the victim from getting a job or taking her money. –Put the victim down, calling her names and making her feel like she is crazy. –For additional examples see the power and control wheel handout.

Warning Signs  Signs that a partner may be abusive can include: –Controlling behaviors  Limiting contact with friends and relatives  Limiting ability to access money and bank accounts  Limiting access to health care –Coercive behaviors  Using guilt to get elicit desired behavior –Increased yelling and fear-eliciting behavior  Verbal confrontations  Physical confrontations

Safety Planning  Safety planning is creating a plan of action that a victim can utilize when in danger. Safety plans are tools, resources and information that are designed after assessing the risks to the victim in an attempt to diminish their effects. –Examples of safety planning techniques are:  Memorize emergency phone numbers  Keep a phone in a room that can lock from the inside  Pack a bag with important things needed if you had to leave quickly.  Ask neighbors to call the police if they see the abuser or create a signal for them to call the police.

Order of Protections  An Order of Protection (OP) is a court order which orders the abuser to stay away. The OP may also: –Order the abuser to be removed from the home. –Order the abuser to have no contact by any means with the petitioner. –Award custody of any children in common with the abuser, as well as make a child support order, if there are no previous order on these issues

Orders of Protection –Order the abuser not to possess a gun –Order the abuser to pay medical expenses for injuries inflicted by the abuser. –Order the abuser to participate in court approved treatment programs for batterers or for substance abuse.

Resources Legal:  LAAW Shelters: Shelters:  COMTREA *  Fortress Outreach  St. Martha’s Hall  Weinman Shelter *  Turning Point  Women’s Center *  Women’s Safe House * Victim Services:  Victim Service Division -County  Victim Services–City  St. Charles Victim Assist  CVAC

Resources Counseling: Counseling:  For victims  ALIVE *  Life Source  Women's Support &  Community Services *  Woman’s Place  Center for Trauma Recovery  UMSL  YWCA-Sexual Assault  Response Team or or For batterers  AVA  RAVEN *indicates a 2 4 hour hotline

Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART)  DART is a unique team of ten detectives that respond to the scene of a domestic violence incident after being contacted by the district police officers. If the reported incident meets their criteria, the detectives immediately assume the investigation until its completion.  As of October 2004,two of the detectives’ primary duties are to aggressively investigate, monitor and arrest offenders of stalking and order of protection violations.

DART Requirements  Must meet one relationship and one criminal criteria to be a DART client.  Relationship Criteria: –Currently live together or have lived together in the past –Are married or have been married in the past –Have a child in common –Elder abuse

DART Requirements  Criminal Criteria: –Felony Charges - examples: Assault 1 st and Assault 2 nd. –Misdemeanor Charges – example: Assault 3 rd, DART will only take these if there have been 2 prior written reports at the District Level. –Violations of an Order of Protection – DART will take all violations of the OP as long as the relationship criteria is met.

DART Statistics  In 2002 the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) received 27,874 domestic disturbance calls for service, 6,452 were domestic violence.  In 2002 DART investigated 940 cases of domestic violence.

Victim Intervention Project (VIP)  VIP is a collaboration between DART and Legal Advocates for Abused Women that was implemented in 1997 to provide immediate crisis support for victims of domestic violence when cases are not prosecuted.

Victim Intervention Project (VIP)  The Victim Advocates provide on-scene crisis intervention at the time of a domestic violence incident, safety planning, legal advocacy and social service referrals, and court accompaniment for Order of Protection filing and hearings.

VIP Statistics  In 2004 VIP received 516 cases and has an average of 280 active open case per month.  Demographics of VIP Clients: –36% are years old –78% are female –71% are from minority populations –73% are currently single  The Victim Advocates provided court accompaniment to 147 hearings in 2004.