Call it what it is:
This morning on OPB, I heard a story about a man who shot and killed a civilian woman working at the Fort Lewis PX, then shot himself. The reporter cited the woman's mom, who told investigators that the shooter was the woman's ex-partner, that they had broken up seven months ago, but that he "wouldn't let her go" and "threatened to kill himself". This clearly illustrates the fact that this was a domestic violence fatality. Despite this information, the reporter said that investigators are not clear on the "motive" for the killing. The words "domestic violence" were not used once - and checking the New York Times and the Oregonian, neither paper is naming this as a domestic violence fatality.
The WSCADV Fatality Review Project cites recent separation as a significant factor in domestic violence fatalities: "In at least 47% of the homicides committed by a
domestic violence abuser in Washington state, the victim had left, divorced, or
separated from the abuser, or was attempting to leave or break up with the abuser at
the time of the murder. In a Florida study, 60% of the women killed were separated or
in the process of leaving"
They also found that "firearms were the most common weapon used in domestic violence homicides" and that homicide-suicides "comprised a significant portion of domestic violence homicides."
Stalking behavior, threats of suicide, recent separation, and gun ownership - all red flags for lethality within the context of domestic violence. I hope the investigators name this situation for what it is, and that the media follow suit - we can't effectively support survivors or move forward in ending domestic violence if we don't acknowledge how lethal it can be.
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Friday, August 7, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Spewing Butterflies: A Silent Scream…
(originally posted 02/09 at wordpress)
Spewing Butterflies: A new column from camille
Translated as a random spew of emotional turmoil and thoughts Camille uses prose and different forms of writing to speak her mind. She speaks of true emotions and real life experience as a way to translate her world. This column includes a lot of her personal struggles through trauma, addiction, and domestic violence as an adolescent to a young adult. Using our culture as a framework, her perspective hopes to engage others to speak the truth of their experiences. Through her insight and awareness she strives to contribute to the growth of the woman’s movement.
by camille
Blades across my forearm. Silencing unspoken rage and fear. Pay attention.
I’m losing sanity. Losing my power. Fifteen. Angry and fearless. I lost myself. I lost touch with who I was. Never really knew as I drifted further away from reality. Boys, drugs I tried everything to escape. Promiscuity seemed like another good escape. My sexuality became my identity. The more sex I had, the more confidence I got. The minute he walked out the door, so did my worth. The cycle continued and I felt like I had nothing to lose. It was a trap. Eventually I had nothing left and suddenly woke up in a nightmare.
Spewing Butterflies: A new column from camille
Translated as a random spew of emotional turmoil and thoughts Camille uses prose and different forms of writing to speak her mind. She speaks of true emotions and real life experience as a way to translate her world. This column includes a lot of her personal struggles through trauma, addiction, and domestic violence as an adolescent to a young adult. Using our culture as a framework, her perspective hopes to engage others to speak the truth of their experiences. Through her insight and awareness she strives to contribute to the growth of the woman’s movement.
by camille
Blades across my forearm. Silencing unspoken rage and fear. Pay attention.
I’m losing sanity. Losing my power. Fifteen. Angry and fearless. I lost myself. I lost touch with who I was. Never really knew as I drifted further away from reality. Boys, drugs I tried everything to escape. Promiscuity seemed like another good escape. My sexuality became my identity. The more sex I had, the more confidence I got. The minute he walked out the door, so did my worth. The cycle continued and I felt like I had nothing to lose. It was a trap. Eventually I had nothing left and suddenly woke up in a nightmare.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Sexual Assault Capstone: Finding Voice
(originally posted 07/08 at wordpress)
by Kristyn Stolze
I didn’t think enough about acquaintance rape until it happened to someone close to me. Then one of the women I love was raped by her housemate and the light bulb went on.
I grew up learning that sexual violence happened too much and needed to stop, but never went further than knowing, wishing it were different but feeling totally helpless. It took an act of violence against a friend to light a fire under my ass, and I only regret that it took this long for me to really freak out and get busy. I see the fierce, brilliant pack of people answering back to interpersonal violence with action and wish I had joined sooner. I thought I needed to be someone different to do something about sexual violence, someone more educated, more trained, more informed. But I see now that as long as individuals feel powerless, we give our real power as a group away. Fortunately, a lot of people figured this out a lot faster than I did…and they have been busy. For decades. As I learn more about the realities of sexual violence I find some grim statistics, and I used to make the mistake of only seeing the darkness and missing the hope. After my friend’s rape, I felt crazy and powerless, but driven like never before to find out how to get involved somewhere, with something. I decided to take the Sexual Assault Capstone at PSU to connect with the PSU Women’s Resource Center and get more information, and that connection brought me to the shesheet.
I would like to know who is out there reading and what your thoughts, experiences and reactions are to the topic/issue/reality of sexual violence. Because it’s so pervasive in our culture we all live with it in some way every day; this means we all have a story to tell. I want to know what other people are doing to create change. If you aren’t usually comfortable posting responses and comments to blogs, please consider responding to the things you read on the shesheet and to this blog you are reading now. It’s a great space to interact with people who are shaking things up to make much-needed change.
I personally have never blogged until today, but I think it’s an amazing way to connect to a huge community of incredible folks. I want to take part in a bigger conversation about sexual violence with the readers on the shesheet…please join me with some of your thoughts so we can learn from each other!
by Kristyn Stolze
I didn’t think enough about acquaintance rape until it happened to someone close to me. Then one of the women I love was raped by her housemate and the light bulb went on.
I grew up learning that sexual violence happened too much and needed to stop, but never went further than knowing, wishing it were different but feeling totally helpless. It took an act of violence against a friend to light a fire under my ass, and I only regret that it took this long for me to really freak out and get busy. I see the fierce, brilliant pack of people answering back to interpersonal violence with action and wish I had joined sooner. I thought I needed to be someone different to do something about sexual violence, someone more educated, more trained, more informed. But I see now that as long as individuals feel powerless, we give our real power as a group away. Fortunately, a lot of people figured this out a lot faster than I did…and they have been busy. For decades. As I learn more about the realities of sexual violence I find some grim statistics, and I used to make the mistake of only seeing the darkness and missing the hope. After my friend’s rape, I felt crazy and powerless, but driven like never before to find out how to get involved somewhere, with something. I decided to take the Sexual Assault Capstone at PSU to connect with the PSU Women’s Resource Center and get more information, and that connection brought me to the shesheet.
I would like to know who is out there reading and what your thoughts, experiences and reactions are to the topic/issue/reality of sexual violence. Because it’s so pervasive in our culture we all live with it in some way every day; this means we all have a story to tell. I want to know what other people are doing to create change. If you aren’t usually comfortable posting responses and comments to blogs, please consider responding to the things you read on the shesheet and to this blog you are reading now. It’s a great space to interact with people who are shaking things up to make much-needed change.
I personally have never blogged until today, but I think it’s an amazing way to connect to a huge community of incredible folks. I want to take part in a bigger conversation about sexual violence with the readers on the shesheet…please join me with some of your thoughts so we can learn from each other!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
On Rape Culture
(originally posted 05/08 at wordpress)
by Katie Johncock
“Rape culture” is a scary phrase. At least I think so. The first time I heard it I was taking the basic advocacy training at Portland Women’s Crisis Hotline and I remember thinking: “Whoa, that sounds really intense…does our culture really support rape?” What I found out was that rape culture is so normalized that it’s easy to miss it. What exactly is rape culture?
An Interview With Inspiring Advocate Angela Jensen
(originally posted 03/08 at wordpress)
by Jennifer Collier
I often feel that I am living in a socially disconnected culture where individual ambition outweighs the broader social needs of the community. In moments like these, I draw inspiration from individuals who devote their lives to helping others. PSU’s Interpersonal Violence Advocate, Angela Jensen, was able to reinvigorate my optimism when she took time out of her busy day to tell me about the work that she does at PSU.
by Jennifer Collier
I often feel that I am living in a socially disconnected culture where individual ambition outweighs the broader social needs of the community. In moments like these, I draw inspiration from individuals who devote their lives to helping others. PSU’s Interpersonal Violence Advocate, Angela Jensen, was able to reinvigorate my optimism when she took time out of her busy day to tell me about the work that she does at PSU.
Some Thoughts on Virginia Tech
(originally posted April 20th 2007 at wordpress)
April 20, 2007
by Iva Lee
I am deeply saddened by the loss of the many students and faculty who were killed at Virginia Tech. And I’m sure that by this point people are emotionally exhausted by all of the talk and focus on the shooting over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard discussions that reflect what’s been really bothering me about this situation
April 20, 2007
by Iva Lee
I am deeply saddened by the loss of the many students and faculty who were killed at Virginia Tech. And I’m sure that by this point people are emotionally exhausted by all of the talk and focus on the shooting over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard discussions that reflect what’s been really bothering me about this situation
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