For the eighth time this decade a man has shot a woman or child in a domestic dispute in Orange County. Hopefully the victim, the girlfriend of Mark Wade Gentry (nephew of the man convicted in three other domestic violence murders), will survive. (She is in critical condition at UNC.) The previous seven died. It seems pointless to wax on about this subject on a forum like OP.org. I say that because I assume that the gentle readers of this site are not the sort of people who do this. Indeed any sort of public outcry seems unlikely to reach that kind of scoundrel.
Still, here's hoping that it does some kind of good somehow. Domestic violence is not some kind of theoretical issue. It is something that is killing real people in our community.
Tragically, domestic violence is something that runs in families. Children grow up in abusive households and begin to think that Daddy hitting Mommy is somehow normal. And these same people think that it is okay when they are adults as well.
Well, I hope I speak for everyone on this site: It is not normal. It is not okay. In fact, it is horrible and depraved. And we are not going to put up with it.
Some credit is due to District Court Judge Joe Buckner who seems to be taking the case very seriously.
Issues:
Comments
Thanks for the
Thanks for the clarification, Janeen, on the Center's Spanish language outreach.
I couldn't agree more that this problem crosses all ethnic, racial and economic lines . . . Thanks for making the point clearly.
Mark I would love for you to
Mark
I would love for you to find out statistics on this, and more importantly, what is being done to help spanish speaking people in our area who are suffering from such abuse.
If the newspapers are skewing coverage of the logs to make it appear that hispanics have a higher rate of abuse, and also DUI/DWI, I think that would be racist of them. It would be interesting to review this.
Todd
In case no one answered Mark
In case no one answered Mark yet - The Family Violence Prevention Center does indeed have a Latino Outreach Coordinator (Meghan Agresto - I may have spelled that wrong - if so, sorry Meghan). There are groups in Orange, Chatham and Durham who are enhancing the grassroots effort to raise awareness of domestic violence in the Latino community via members of the community itself. With that point made, this affliction crosses all intersections of ethnicity, social economic status, etc..and don't think otherwise.Take a moment to reflect on the fact that 74 people died from domestic violence-related homicides in North Carolina last year. In 2002, our DV-related homicide rate was the 6th highest in the nation. Perpetrators are often our doctors, our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues, our family members. It's everyone's responsibility. Thanks to the survivors who spoke out here!
Another thing to be aware of
Another thing to be aware of is the longevity of the response to being victimized. Services need to be provided not just for getting away from the situation but for recovery afterwards. Children who are abused or who live with an abused parent need opportunities to see loving families and how they work out disagreements without violence. Domestic violence is self-perpetuating and breaking the cycle requires community support for the long haul.
From reading the police
From reading the police logs, it appears this problem is the most concentrated among the hispanic population. I wonder if there is enough attention paid to this, and if resources are being made available to council this part of our population when needed?
Todd, I am sure that the
Todd, I am sure that the Police Blotter is not the best way to judge. What you read in the blotter are only reports of situations in which both 1) a police report was generated and 2) the press chose to print it. Many incidents (most?) are not reported to the police. I have no idea how the paper selects items to include in the blotter, but it can't be anything like 100% of police reports.
I don't know whether the Family Violence Prevention Center has programs etc. in Spanish. I would guess that they do, but alas, the FVPC does not have a website as far as I can tell from Google. (www.unc.edu specifically mentions that the FVPC does not have a website.) If this is still the case, it seems outrageous.
Anyone know of a website for the FVPC? Anyone from the organization care to comment on when there will be one?
thanks
-Mark Chilton
I was a victim of domestic
I was a victim of domestic violence. I know from my experience that it is very hard to report the violence to the proper authorities. The person that is being beaten or threatened is afraid of saying anything because the possible repercussions that will have on them. It takes a very strong person to be able to get out of that situation. It also takes neighbors, friends, family, and even the police to intervene.
One step of reducing and hopefully stopping the killing in domestic violence cases is the reaction of the police, courts, & laws.
When threats are made on your life and there has been proof of violence in the past. The abuser should not be able to post bond. What happens is when the person gets out after being locked up for ONLY 24 HOURS or less, he/she is angry. I know officers think its enough cooling off time but in reality its not. There should be stricter penalties for threats/physically abusing another person.
Second step is having some kind of anger/stress management class for all teenagers, with all the violence on TV, movies, video games, schools, homes, and in the world today. The stress that our young people have on them today is overwhelming. We need to educate our young ladies & our young men. I believe it should be mandatory before graduation. (9 weeks)
Remember it’s not always women that are victims, men can be abused too. There is also parent, children, & elderly abuse. If you know of any abuse that is taking place, please don’t be silent-It is your business to intervene!
More awfulness: Two CHHS
More awfulness: Two CHHS students charged with rape! http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-456338.html