Wednesday, November 12, 2003
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Wednesday, November 12, 2003 |
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Victims still blamed
in some domestic violence cases By JOHN MUNFORD Although no deaths in Fayette County this year have been attributed to domestic violence, there is still plenty of room for local education on the issue, according to Bonnie Campbell, executive director of the Fayette County Council on Domestic Violence. Campbell often sits in on court hearings to assist victims of domestic violence, and there were times this year when she was shocked by what she heard: ä A man was found not guilty of simple battery against his girlfriend, despite photos shown to the jury of the victim’s black eye and the man’s admission that he punched her. The suspect also admitted to fabricating an e-mail in the case, but the jury believed his claim that he struck the woman in self-defense, Campbell said. ä In another case where a man was found not guilty of simple battery and stalking against his girlfriend, one juror said after the trial, “If that’s the definition of simple battery then we could all be found guilty of that,” Campbell said. ä A woman called her pastor after her husband was jailed for assaulting her and the pastor asked the woman, “How could you put him in jail?” and added, “You know, divorce is wrong.” Blaming the victims of domestic violence isn’t the solution, especially when it leads to not holding the offenders accountable, Campbell said. “One of the first things people ask is, ‘Why doesn’t she leave,’” Campbell said. “Why don’t we ask, ‘Why does he hurt her? Why does he hurt the woman he claims to love?’” Women who attempt to leave the relationship often put themselves at risk, Campbell said. Statistics show that 75 percent of the women who are killed by their abusers die as they are leaving or after they have left the home, she said. Some victims are afraid to come forward just because their husband/abuser is so well-liked in the community the victim thinks her story won’t be believed, Campbell added. “They have a public face, and they have a very private face,” Campbell said. Victims will tell her, “Everybody likes him, they think he’s so wonderful and nobody believes me.” Although there have been no domestic violence deaths in Fayette this year, the county has been inadvertently touched by domestic violence homicide, Campbell noted. Two former Fayette women who live elsewhere in metro Atlanta were killed by their partners this year, Campbell said. And last year 613 domestic violence incidents were reported to local law enforcement agencies, Campbell said, noting the number of actual incidents is likely greater due to victims too scared to call police. “It happens everywhere,”
Campbell said.
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