Taking Action Against Domestic Violence

Colorado, especially Fort Collins, is seen as an idyllic, peaceful place to live. Very little crime, no financial worries and no domestic violence.

Nothing could be further from the truth! This past year Colorado was rated as having the 5th highest rate of domestic violence incidents in the country. In the past 5 years Colorado has varied between the 3rd - 12th highest rate of domestic violence in the nation!

According to the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence's publication "Snapshot of Domestic Violence in Colorado":

* Almost half of all murders in Colorado are committed by an intimate partner. The vast majority of these victims are female. 49 people died as a result of domestic violence in 2007, including 9 incidents of murder/suicide that resulted in 19 of the deaths. 19 children were killed during an incident of domestic violence from 2000-2007.

* Almost half of the women killed by an intimate partner had visited the emergency room with an injury visit some time in the two years before the murder.

* Nationally about 1 in 320 households are affected by intimate partner violence - that's nearly 5.3 million incidents and 2 million injuries and 1,300 deaths!

* In Colorado, for 2008 so far, we have averaged 1 Domestic Violence killing per month and the attempted murder of 2 children. There has also been a widely publicized kidnapping.

Things are getting worse...

* In 2005 shelters turned away 2,537 victims because of lack of capacity and funding.

* In 2006 shelters turned away 5,886 victims for the same reasons.

* In 2007 shelters turned away 6,341 victims.

* With the economic stresses of 2008 and the job layoffs you can be assured that the 2007 numbers will be eclipsed before the end of the year.

* Shelters provided this past year 12,982 nights of service - that's an average of 35 women per night and an average of 17 per night had to be turned away. That's almost half of the women seeking help.

What can be done? Several members of SIFC attended The Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Crossroads Safehouse Town Hall Meeting on Sept. 4th, 2008 to explore options and see what can be done.

Amy Miller from CCADV and Vicki Lutz from Crossroads SafeHouse welcomed members of the community, the domestic violence assistance community, and local lawmakers to the meeting. After Amy gave out some sobering statistics participants were asked to comment on several questions. Finally, local lawmakers responded to several questions about issues concerning domestic violence.

The results of the Q&A session were very interesting.

Greatest unmet needs of families experiencing domestic violence?

* Return to normalcy - housing and costs associated with running a family. Many women will return to their abuser because they cannot find reasonably priced housing.

* Affordable child care - especially in Estes Park

* Kid friendly assignments of custody - kids often end up with abuser in joint custody situations

* What to do when abuser gets out of jail. restraining orders often not enforced

Greatest barriers in Fort Collins to providing Domestic Violence services

* Education that the problem really does exist

* Need to educate all children about abuse (Colorado got a D in a recent report card about informing kids on date rape)

* Breaking through cultural morals that say violence is acceptable

Impact of judges on Domestic Violence issues?

* Orders given in divorce court are often different from criminal judges.

* Victims who prosecute through several courts have to repeat descriptions of abuse over and over.

* There is a need for mediators.

* Judges can be insensitive on no-contact issues - one woman told she needed to "get along" with abuser for the sake of the children.

* Woman and kids, not just woman, needs protection of restraining order.

* More places where restraining orders can be issued in Larmier County. Currently if a woman in Estes Park needs a restraining order she has to travel to Fort Collins.

Are guns being removed from Domestic Violence offenders?

* There is no followup on this - if a gun is removed another can be easily purchased.

* 60-70% of domestic violence murders are by firearms, however the feeling is that even without a gun these men would still kill their mates.

* There needs to be a state-wide review of homicide prevention

One of the best points raised was the need for "Friends and Family Training". Both vicitims of abuse and family members made the comments that "if only they had known the signs" they may have been able to save themselves or their loved ones from abuse and even death.

Local lawmakers Bob Bacon, John Kefalas, Randy Fischer, and Don Marostica stressed the need for the community to participate in the lawmaking process. All of them made the point that they learned something new about domestic violence from the meeting and were happy to have the opportunity to meet with those in the know about the issue. Amy Miller made the point that one call, one letter, one visit from you means much more to a law maker than the time or attentions of lobbiest. "The legislative process belongs to those who show up." A good place to start and get information on candidates and issues is Project Vote Smart. www.

For the Soroptimist ladies in attendance it was a great opportuntity to meet Amy Miller from the CCADV and to learn about the state of domestic violence issues in Larimer County and Colorado. 

We hope that SIFC will be able to team up with CCADV to help with Domestic Violence issues in the future!