What is domestic violence:

Before we can speak about domestic violence, we must first understand what it means. In the state of
Utah, there is a clear definition of what constitutes domestic violence and how, and by whom will
commit it. The Utah State Code 76-36-1, defines Domestic violence as any criminal offense involving
violence or physical harm or threat of violence or physical harm, or any attempt, conspiracy, or
solicitation to commit a criminal offense involving violence or physical harm, when committed by one
cohabitant against another. "Domestic violence" or "domestic violence offense" also means commission
or attempt to commit, any of the following offenses by one cohabitant against another. Many other
government entities, articles, and research refers to domestic violence as intimate partner violence.
Domestic violence has been well known of for centuries. In the 1800s, it was well accepted for a man to
physically chastise his wife. Domestic violence awareness and action did not start to take shape until
the 1980s. Today, we have a great deal of information and resources available for domestic violence
victims. But is it enough, and are we making progress.

Domestic violence is still a huge problem in the United States, but this is not only a United States
problem. Domestic violence is worldwide, spread across every continent and every race or religion. As
shown in the chart from the US Department of Justice in 2003. There is still a great number of assaults.
What this chart does not show is the number of domestic violence related homicides.

Domestic violence is hard to track and accurately research. As stated in the book methodologies
in dialogue by Shuki Cohen, and Chitra Raghavan, Intimate partner violence has proven to be a difficult
behavior to measure. It often occurs in private settings, and individuals are reluctant to discuss their
experiences with anyone, let alone researchers. This is true in all crimes involving domestic violence
from simple assault to sexual assault. Some of these reasons can be race, religion, sexual preference,
fear, punishment, deportation, or many other reasons that we may never understand.

Children are also victims of domestic violence. It has not been that long ago when they were

not thought of as victims, merely a witness at

best. And I say at best, because for a long
time, children were not thought to be a
reliable witness. The state of Utah has made it
a separate criminal offense to commit any
type of domestic violence in the presence of a
child. This is a huge step in treating the
children who are exposed to domestic
violence. Utah Child protective Services are
also involved when there is a child who is
exposed to domestic violence. This is not an
effort to remove a child from their home, or
take them away from their parents. This is an understanding that children will need help dealing with
the trauma caused by this violence. In an article posted on domesticviolenceshelters.org, it states Boys
who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they
become adults. There is also training available to law enforcement in the best practices for
interviewing the children who are witnessing this violence. This training can help prevent further
trauma to the children, by asking appropriate questions to gather the necessary information.

Children who are exposed to violence can start to believe that they are to blame for the
violence, or even believe that the violence is normal.
 Although there has been a drastic decrease in reported domestic violence historically, it has
been increasing over the last few years. Much of the decrease may be because of the resources
available to victims such as shelters, counseling, and therapy. There are legal resources available for
court proceedings or divorce. Protective orders are available to help keep the perpetrator away. There
are advocates available to assist victims and families as well as support groups. In the state of Utah,
these resources are available through the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, the courts, or law
enforcement agencies.

Perpetrators of domestic violence will also need a variety of resources which may include
incarceration, therapy, anger management, parenting courses, etc. In a book by John Devany, Male
Perpetrators of Domestic Violence: How Should We Hold Them to Account?, he states there is an
underlying assumption that most men will not take responsibility for their behavior without an extrinsic
motivator. This is a reference that there should be a jail sentence imposed to perpetrators of

domestic violence. Although jail time may very well

be warranted in many situation, it is not always the
best option. There must be other resources
available such as counselling, therapy, classes, etc.
We must constantly be looking for ways of
improving how we respond, and treat domestic
violence.

Although we as a society have come a long way is the war against domestic violence, we still
have a lot to learn. There are still too many victims that are not reporting and getting the help they
need.
 A Little Known Hero
I made an appointment to meet with a Victim Advocate that I know, whom will be referred to as
Jane. Jane chose a profession that can be so rough on a person. I know she must hear about some
pretty horrific things. I always enjoy hearing about peoples life stories, and Jane must have some great
stories to tell. Most importantly, what drove her to become a Victim Advocate, and stay at it for so long.

I arrived at a local coffee shop a little early and waited for Jane. The meeting place was pretty
vacant except for the workers behind the counter cleaning up the machines. The smell of the brewing
coffee was amazing. They all know me here, as Ive been getting my coffee there a few times a week for
the past couple years. We could talk in a private room nestled in the back area of the lobby. There is a
glass door and windows looking out into the lobby, but otherwise a private room.

Everyone could immediately notice Jane coming into the coffee shop, she is a short woman in
her late forties. She has long dark hair pulled back in a bun. Although she is small in stature, she just
carries herself in a way that screams dont mess with me. I met her in the lobby and bought her a
coffee, as we walked to the room where we could talk. I have known Jane for a long time, but know
very little about her. I asked her to meet with me because I was working on a paper about Victim
Advocates and their job. I did not tell her that the paper was actually about her. If she knew, Jane may
have declined the interview all together because she is such a private person.

We started talking about her job, which taught me things that I never knew before. I figured
that she talked with domestic violence victims and offered them services and such. What I learned is
that she is much more involved than that. Jane told me that she or one of her partners contact every
single victim of domestic violence in their entire city where they work. Jane offers every single person
she speaks with help. Jane said that there is no difference in services offered to men or women, when
they are the victim of domestic violence. Jane told me about a man who was in a pretty bad situation
that he needed to get out of, but he had two small children. Jane told me that she was able to help this
man and his children get into a shelter in West Jordan called South Valley Services. I never knew that
these shelters were open to men, but many of them are. I found several shelters in Utah on the Utah
Domestic Violence Coalition website. Many, but not all of these shelters allow men in their facilities. All
of the shelters allow women and children.

I asked Jane what the most frustrating part of her job is, to which she replied there are
several. She described helping victims who have been in abusive relationships, only to have them
return to the same abusive situation. Sometimes no matter what she does for people, they cannot look
past the abuse and know that they do not deserve to be treated this way. Jane expressed being
frustrated with how the laws do not always apply to every situation. Jane was referring to the Utah
cohabitant abuse act, and the conditions of release, after a person is arrested for domestic violence.
The Utah code states. When someone is arrested for domestic violence, they are issued a jail release
agreement, which prevents them from returning home, or contacting the other party. This order
remains in place until they have a court date. Jane said that this is best for most circumstances, but
there are people who dont want the no contact order. Such as families where this is a one-time
incident with very minimal abuse. Janes feels as though sometimes the no contact order makes things
worse for families trying to get back together and work it out.
 After talking to Jane for a while about what she does, I started talking to her about who she is.
Jane grew up in Arizona. Her parents came to America from Mexico when she was very young. Jane
says that she was not poor, but lived in a house with other families. When she was older, they moved to
Utah, for better work for her father. Jane worked various jobs before becoming a victim advocate. I had
to ask if she was once a victim of domestic abuse. But she told me no. She has been married for over
twenty years. She has had ups and downs in her marriage but there has never been abuse. Then why
does she do this job? She saw people she knew going through divorces, or broken relationships and saw
how abusive they could be. She started looking into being a counselor but there was so much schooling
involved, and she just couldnt afford it. She applied to be a victim advocate and she got it. She loves
helping the domestic violence victims, finding them jobs, places to stay, and getting them out of a bad
situation. Jane speaks Spanish, so she spends a great deal of time assisting victims get their citizenship.
She told me that she also tries to go to every court case involving one of her victims. Jane trades off
being on call with two other people in the office. Which means that every third week, she can be called
out any time of day or night to assist with a variety of things, primarily domestic violence. Nearly one
third of homicides in Utah are domestic violence related (SL Tribune Jan 2017), which Jane has been
called out to assist with. Jane also helps with victims of any other type of crimes, and knows where they
can get services, and who will pay for the services, such as Crime Victim Reparations.

It was time to end our interview and head back to work. Jane must have several people waiting
for her. We left the coffee shop together and said our goodbyes. What an interesting story she has to
tell, I am privileged to know her.

After my interview, I realized that Jane did not share much about her personal life, only about
her work life. I had a great deal of respect for Jane prior to meeting with her, but had even more
afterwards. Jane is such a caring person, who has a difficult and frustrating job. She sees firsthand what
an abusive relationship can do to a person and a family. She sees how devastating this is for the
children involved, yet she keeps on trying to contact and help every single victim.

Our loved ones with mental health concerns just might kill us.
There is a direct link of mental illness in many of the domestic violence related homicides
throughout the country. We must have a way to identify the triggers that would cause a person to
commit such a violent attach on their partners. We must have a way to force them to accept treatment,
even when they may not want it. Nobody wants to take away a persons freedoms or liberties, but if we
can identify that they are mentally ill, are they really in the right state of mind to refuse treatment? A
recent study by the Utah Department of Health found that approximately 32 percent of all homicides in
the state of Utah were domestic violence-related. We also have to consider all of the children in Utah
who are somehow related to the homicide. 147 Utah children were directly exposed to an intimate
partner-related homicide from 2003-2008 and 78% of these children were under six years of age. I think
that most of us would agree that you would have to have some sort of mental health issue to violently
kill your loved ones. Maybe that is an ongoing mental health problem or a recent concern. What is
difficult to find statistically, is if there was mental illness involved in the relationship prior to the
homicide. A great deal of the domestic homicides are commonly referred to as a murder-suicide.
Meaning that the perpetrator will take their own life after taking the life of their partner and in some
cases their children. One such incident is one that took place in West Jordan City Utah. The case is
highlighted in an article by Pat Reavy in the Deseret news. On December 12, 2009, Justin Matern went
to the apartment of wife Melissa Matern. Once he was able to gain entry into the home, he opened fire
on his family with a handgun. He shot and killed his two young sons 6-year-old Gabriel, and 4-year-old
Raiden, his estranged wife Melissa, and then turned the gun on himself. Not well known to persons
outside of this family, Melissa had left Justin because of domestic violence issues. It was reported to
police that Justin was physically and mentally abusive towards Melissa. We do not know to what extent
Justin was being treated for any mental health issues, but it was reported that prior to the killings, Justin
had expressed suicidal thoughts to friends and neighbors. We also do not know if Justin was ever
treated for any mental health issues, but one could assume that Justin was experiencing some issues on
this tragic day.

I have to beg the question, what is being done to try and predict or screen persons who have
mental illness prior to them snapping, and committing such horrific acts of violence? If Justin Matern
would have sought out professional mental health, could they have predicted that he would go as far as
killing his young children and his estranged wife? Before anyone could help Justin or anyone in his
position, they first need to seek the help and cooperate with the treatment.

In an article by Janet Sullivan Wilson, she talks about a screening process for both men and
women in regards to identifying domestic violence. This screening could be done by anyone in the
medical field or mental health field. If we could identify some of these problems exist, there could
possibly be some preventive measures in place. Laws could be enacted to force people into treatment
programs in an attempt to protect themselves, their families as well as the public.

Another, more publicized example of a murder suicide, is the mass shooting at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Connecticut. Adam Lanza shot his way into an elementary school and killed 20
first graders and 6 adults, before turning the gun on himself. Now, while the horrific tragedy that
occurred at the school was not domestic violence related, prior to going to the school and murdering all
those children, Lanza first shot and killed his own mother at their home.

The mental health of Adam Lanza has been described in numerous articles from news sources as
well as FBI documents. Lauren Fox of US news and world report wrote about Lanzas mental health
issues. She wrote about how he had been under the care of doctors and physiatrists, but Lanza did not
take his medications or follow the doctors instructions. If there was a guideline for helping to identify
concerns of potential threats of domestic violence, and homicidal ideations, maybe Lanza would have
been forced into a program to help him with his mental health. In the journal of psychiatry and
psychology in 2006, it talks about the correlation of homicide-suicide and mental health. The article
cites that often times, these incidents are related by blood or marriage. A study in New Mexico over the
course of 10 years showed that 70.6 % of homicide-suicides were between couples. There are many
professionals that have different positions in the argument of mental health being involved in these
tragedies. However, you cannot ignore the fact that most incidents are involving someone who is in a
deranged state of mind. Whether their mental health concerns have been an ongoing problem, or
something that is due to their current situation many never been fully understood. In these cases, the
person with the mental health concerns is also deceased, making it difficult to understand why they did
what they did. Another difficulty in tracking the data surrounding homicide suicides are how the death
is actually classified. There is no clear guideline for tracking the classification of these crimes. Without
accurate information, law makers are not going to take away a persons liberties and force them into
mental health treatment. Even if that is what needs to happen to prevent some of the senseless killings
of innocent people.

What we do know for sure is that domestic violence related homicide cases are real and they
occur in every state and every town. We also know that there is an increasing concern for mental health
and treatments for the mentally disturbed. If you have people with mental health issued becoming
involved in intimate partner relationship, then it is fair to say that there could be concerns that the
mental health issues could result in some sort of violence and in extreme cases, death.

National Coalition against domestic violence reports nationally that 72% of all murder-suicides
involve an intimate partner; 94% of the victims of these murder suicides are female. As a society we
have done a good job at trying to better understand and deal with domestic violence. But as a society
we have a long way to go in dealing with person who have mental health issues. These mental health
issues pour over into a persons life in every aspect. There needs to be a way to put together the
extreme violence towards their intimate partners and the mental health issues these perpetrators are
facing.