Domestic Violence Headlines for Week of Sept. 22

Domestic violence should never become background noise — so we’ll keep bringing it forward, headline after headline, until the echo finally stops.

El Paso Chief Military Officer Resigns After DV Arrest, Says He Suffers From TBI

It was announced Monday that the chief military officer of El Paso, Texas, Paul Albright, had resigned following his arrest for domestic violence. His letter of resignation from August, however, cited health issues as the reason for his decision to step down. “I have determined that stepping away from my professional responsibilities is necessary to prioritize my health and recovery,” Albright wrote, referencing his time in the U.S. Army. In a subsequent LinkedIn post, Albright mentions he suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of his service.

Albright was arrested on Sept. 4 after, according to court documents, his wife says he hit her four times on the left eye as they drove home from a comedy club one evening. She claims he was mad at her because she “disrespected” their grown son and his fiancé by cutting in front of them in line at the club. Blame-shifting is a manipulation tactic some abusers utilize to redirect responsibility for their actions on to someone else, making the victim often feel like they’re the one who needs to change their behavior in order to avoid violence. 

Albright claims he did not hit his wife but merely pushed her to avoid a crash as she was driving. When officers responded, they observed his wife had a black and swollen eye. 

Studies have shown that TBIs can lead to emotional and behavioral changes, including increased aggression, impulsivity and impaired judgement. But researchers caution that domestic violence is often caused by more than one factor, meaning while a TBI may play a role in a partner being violent, it is not likely to be the sole cause. It is more likely that a TBI will be the outcome of a victim being subjected to domestic violence by an abuser—such as repeated blows to the head or strangulation— than the cause for an abuser using violence. 

Many TBIs are thought to go undiagnosed in survivors of strangulation by an abusive partner because many survivors don’t seek medical attention after being strangled. There are several reasons for this: there may not be any visible marks left behind or they may not lose consciousness, both which lead them to believe the assault was not severe. The abusive partner may prevent them from seeking help. Or a medical professional may overlook the signs of strangulation and a subsequent TBI. Signs like headaches, difficulty thinking, memory problems, attention deficits, mood swings and frustration can be easily overlooked or misdiagnosed.

Source: CBS 4 News

Woman Reports Strangulation by Partner, Is Also Arrested After He Claims She Hit Him

Conflicting reports led police to arrest a Cedartown, Ga., couple on Monday and charge both with battery. Scott Greeninger, 53, told police who arrived at their home that his girlfriend, Christina Betsill, 42, had struck him in the head with her cell phone during an argument. Police saw a small cut on the man’s head that was bleeding. He claims Betsill had then left the apartment and went to a neighbor’s home. 

When police questioned Betsill, she says she had asked Greeninger to leave their apartment after the couple had been fighting, at which point she says her boyfriend grabbed her by the throat, strangling her. She used her cell phone to hit him in self-defense. Greeninger told police Betsill’s attack had been unprovoked while they were lying in bed. 

Greeninger declined medical treatment on the scene, but it was unclear if Betsill was offered medical treatment. Domestic violence experts advise that victims of strangulation should always receive medical treatment and a forensic exam, if comfortable doing so, even with no visible marks present. Strangulation is the most glaring red flag for future homicide by an abusive partner, but is often overlooked by law enforcement and first responders because its physical indicators don’t show up right away, if at all. And victims who fight back, like Betsill, may be accused of being the primary aggressors. 

Gael Strack, CEO of Alliance for HOPE International, which includes the Training Institute of Strangulation Prevention, says, “The most important evaluation in strangulation and domestic violence assaults is determining who the primary aggressor is in each case.  Unfortunately, law enforcement officers don’t always do a thorough analysis of this and end up arresting the victim.  In the most violent strangulation assaults, the injuries are often on the perpetrator because the victim fights back. Officers who are not well trained can get fooled.”

To learn more, read “Help Police Determine Who is the Primary Aggressor.”

Source: Coosa Valley News 

Violence Policy Study Shows Vast Majority of Women Killed by Men Know Their Murderer 

A new report released Wednesday using FBI crime data shows nine out of 10 women murdered by men know the person who killed them. The 28th annual Violence Policy Center study When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2023 Homicide Data was released for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. The 2023 data is the most recent available from the FBI and includes homicides that involved one female murder victim and one male offender. The rate of 1.4 females killed by men per 100,000 females in 2023 is a 27 percent increase from 2013’s lowest rate of 1.1 females. 

The data shows that 89.9 percent of the 2,412 women murdered by males in single offender/victim incidents in 2023 knew their killers. Of those, just over 57 percent of the murder victims were the wives or intimate partners of the murderers. 

Black women were murdered at higher rates than other ethnicities, with a rate of 3.1 women murdered per 100,000, two and a half times the rate of white women. Of all women killed by men in 2023 in a single victim/offender homicide, nearly 65 percent of perpetrators used a gun, a substantial increase from 51 percent in 2011. For Black female victims, nearly 75 percent of their murders were committed by a perpetrator with a firearm. 

It's also important to note that the vast majority of these murders were not related to any other felony crime, such as rape or robbery—nearly 92 percent could not be connected to any other felony crime happening simultaneously. 

As it stands, women are 16 times more likely to be killed with guns in the U.S. than in other developed countries, and more than half of all women killed with guns are murdered by intimate partners or family members, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit advocating for gun control reforms. Notoriously, abusers are most likely to become lethal when a survivor leaves them and they feel like they are losing control. That’s why it’s never as easy as advising a victim of domestic violence to simply leave when they’re in the cycle of abuse. 

“The biggest factor [for not leaving] is fear,” says Anna Marjavi, program manager with Futures Without Violence, a national nonprofit aimed at advocacy to end violence against women. “A lot of women are threatened by their partner, who’ll say, ‘If you ever leave me, I’ll kill you,’ or ‘If you ever talk to anyone about what’s happening, I’ll kill you.’ They’re very intense threats.” 

Leaving an abuser should never be done alone. Survivors should always consider creating a safety plan with a trained domestic violence advocate. For more information read, “Leaving Without Dying.”

Source: VPC.org

Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department Finds Arsenal of Weapons, Thousands of Rounds of Ammunition In Abuser's Home

On Monday in Santa Barbara, Calif., the Sheriff’s office responded to a 911 call that uncovered far more than just a dangerous, abusive partner on the loose. Patrick Kennedy, 41, had been threatening to kill his girlfriend, who had since fled the home and called for help. She claims her boyfriend had strangled her, as well as subjected her to other forms of assault, and had threatened a neighbor with what appeared to be a grenade. Kennedy, who would only talk to deputies through his Ring doorbell, refused to exit the home until 1 p.m. at which point he was arrested and charged with assault by strangulation, false imprisonment, domestic battery causing injury, criminal threats, felony child endangerment, and brandishing a firearm.

When sheriff’s deputies later entered the home, they uncovered Kennedy had at the ready 10 rifles, a shotgun, four pistols and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

While many assume that domestic violence is a problem that mainly stays in the home and affects couples, the truth is that it spills over into society, putting vast populations of individuals at risk. Studies show that domestic violence is a driving factor in the majority of mass shootings. An analysis by Everytown for Gun Safety found that in 57 percent of 133 incidents reviewed, the gunman targeted a current or former partner or family member, and in more than 20 cases the shooter already had a domestic violence record. In many of these tragedies, the first victim was someone close to the perpetrator, with others killed as collateral targets.

Source: KTLA.com