The Chicago Tribune says that domestic violence calls to the Indianapolis police department are up 13% this year over last. The Honolulu Advertiser says that Hawaii’s Domestic Violence Action Center is fielding a third more calls this year than last. Rates are up in Arizona and Texas, too. The economy is down; stress and violence are up. Here are some thoughts on places women turn for help:  law enforcement, spiritual advisors, and crisis hotlines.

A new Department of Justice study on Domestic Violence & Law Enforcement contains sobering statistics about reports to police. While over the last decade the percentage of women who call the police after physical assault by an intimate partner seems to be rising from under 30% to about 60%, that means 40% of assaults still go unreported. If police are called, either by the victim or by a third party (such as a neighbor or hospital) the study says:

Researchers found 29% of victims reported “no assault,” contradicting police findings. Ironically, their alleged assailants were more likely to admit the assaults, with only 19% reporting “no assault”…  Law enforcement officers may find that the most severely traumatized victims behave the least as law enforcement officers expect of them. These victims may be among the least able to cooperate with law enforcement.

Addressing the question of whether arrest is the best response to intimate-partner violence, the report says:

…arrest deters repeat abuse, whether suspects are employed or not… all actions taken by responding officers – including arrest, providing victims with information pamphlets, taking down witness statements, and helping victims secure protective orders – were associated with reduced reabuse.

If an arrest is made, the percentage of cases prosecuted varies wildly, from 4.6% in Milwaukee to 94% in Cincinati, with the average being about 60%. Sometimes police arrest an abuser for a lesser charge (like disorderly conduct) instead of assault, and sometimes the charge is pled down. However, the report warns:

Reducing assault charges to non-assault charges allows convicted abusers to retain firearms otherwise prohibited… One of the most crucial steps to prevent lethal violence is to disarm abusers and keep them disarmed.

There is much more to digest in the 100-page report. The New Agenda would welcome readers who have a background in this area to write about it more detail.  Contact us at blog@thenewagenda.net.

Rightly or wrongly, often law enforcement is not the first call made by a woman who has been abused. Sometimes the result is tragic. A commenter on our site, Lived It, let us know about an article on Double X describing the experience of Sheri Ferber, a former member of Rick Warren’s Saddleback church. As author Kathryn Joyce recounted:

Four years ago, [Ferber] approached a Saddleback pastor for protection against her husband, who’d violently attacked her while they were driving home from church. Instead of protecting her, Ferber says, the pastor called her husband to warn him that Ferber had been “gossiping about their marriage.” Ferber, it seems, had run into Saddleback’s teaching that the sanctity of marriage prohibits divorce in all but a few circumstances, and domestic violence is not one of them.

The story is heartbreaking. Author Kathryn Joyce goes on to explain:

Jocelyn Andersen, author of Woman Submit! Christians and Domestic Violence, was severely battered by her assistant pastor husband. She argues that submission teachings don’t create abusers, but allow violent men to justify their abuse as biblical. The real danger, though, is in how the teachings impact devout women, who may conclude they can’t leave their marriages and remain committed Christians.

Fortunately, there is evidence of people fighting for change, even in very conservative churches. In fact, the same author, Kathryn Joyce, also wrote on the Saddleback domestic violence issue for Religion Dispatches, where she quotes conservative Christian author Barbara Roberts:

“I think Saddleback’s teaching is profoundly and dangerously wrong,” says Roberts, who tried to contact Saddleback twice after the teachings were publicized in early January, offering them her book’s findings that 1 Corinthians 7:15-a verse commonly interpreted as applying solely to an unbeliever deserting a believing spouse-provides the biblical grounds for abused wives to consider their union nullified. “The key question is not ‘who walked out’ but ‘who caused the separation?’

Of course, many churches already teach that violence abrogates the marital covenant and refer congregants to abuse specialists.  And Christians don’t have a monopoly on the issue. Here are Jewish, Muslim and interfaith voices.

Thankfully, for victims who don’t feel comfortable calling the police, there are trained specialists available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline handles approximately 21,000 calls per month, providing crisis intervention, information, and referrals to shelters and programs. Calls are free, confidential, and anonymous. 1-800-799-7233.

As “Lived It” said, may God have mercy on us all.