By Alyssa Cooper
JournaliZm
The Supreme Court recently decided that domestic abusers do not have the right to own firearms. The decision is a win for victims and advocates for domestic abuse prevention.
Domestic violence in the United States is not a new issue. Its prevalence, especially within the Black community, is alive and well.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control found that black women face a higher risk of intimate partner violence than their white counterparts. More than one out of 10 Black female homicide victims experience domestic violence a month before their murderers.
The reasons for increased rates of domestic violence within the Black community can stem from several factors. A 2023 study conducted by California State University Northridge professor Brianna M. Posey found that the historical disenfranchisement of Black men increased the vulnerability of Black women in the community.
Tallahassee Police Department Deputy Chief Tonja Smith said the causes of domestic violence can be due to several factors.
“Sometimes there’s drugs or alcohol,” Smith said. “But a lot of it is they don’t get help because some people feel like they have to stay in that situation, especially if there’s kids.”
Smith also added that it’s difficult for domestic violence victims to leave their partners. Smith said that TPD deputies arrest aggressors during domestic violence instances, but sometimes, victims are worried about pressing charges against their abusers.
Smith, however, said that re- cent Florida statutes allow officers to make arrests, even when victims are afraid of pressing charges. She said that protecting victims and fellow officers is important to the department.
“We have to prevent that because the next time, they could kill,” Smith said. “We definitely have to take some type of action to prevent that because domestic and traffic stops are a lot where officers get hurt or killed.”
The city of Tallahassee and Leon County have partnered with various community organizations to provide resources and outreach to victims and to spread awareness about domestic violence.
Commissioners in Leon County and the City of Tallahassee established the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council in 1999. Executive Director Kelly O’Rourke, who also conducts research at Florida State University’s Institute of Family Violence Studies, said the DVCC is a combination of different outreach organizations and resources that coordinate effective responses to domestic violence.
“We have LCSO and TPD, who all have victim advocates who work with the victims, but also obviously they work with the perpetrators,” O’Rourke said. “All of the universities have representation because they have victim assistance and victim advocates on campus. The Refuge House, which is our local domestic violence shelter, is a part of our group.”
In addition to working with victims and the perpetrators of domestic violence, the DVCC also comprises organizations dedicated to mitigating domestic violence by teaching young teens how to navigate healthy relationships. Organizations like the PACE Center provide at- risk youth counseling, mentorship and education.
“We do a lot of those trainings all over the area,” O’Rourke said. “And we do a special one for teens for teen dating awareness to prevent them. Hopefully we prevent them from even growing up into copying some of the things they might see in their environment.”
The main goal, O’Rourke said, is to make sure that all of the organizations in the DVCC are on the same page when it comes to mitigating violence against women with a well-co-ordinated community response and campaign centered around raising awareness for domestic violence.
The DVCC meets once a month to discuss how to better serve victims of domestic violence. They discuss recent or potential problems with access to services and how to make sure all services are on one accord.
“That way, we can see if anything’s falling through the cracks,” O’Rourke said. “Do we forget something? That somebody has a glitch in the system where they couldn’t get services from one or the other?”
The Refuge House is a member of the DVCC. It is an emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence that first opened in 1978. Since then, the Refuge House has expanded to serve victims living outside Tallahassee in Leon County, with multiple offices in surrounding towns and counties. Executive Director Emily Mitchen said that the expansion and increased access to resources help The Refuge House’s ability to aid more victims.
“We try to spread ourselves out a lot because a lot of our clients may not need or want to come to emergency shelter,” Mitchen said. “But they may need counseling and some of them are facing barriers in terms of transportation and childcare, so we try to get closer to where people are.”
The Refuge House also helps individuals seeking legal action against their abusers in cooperation with authorities and the court system.
“We have an injunction office at the Leon County Courthouse, where we have staff there to help people file what’s referred to sometimes as a restraining order. And we can go to court with the victim, give them sup- port, information, referrals,” she said.
Mitchen also added that Refuge House also has a Rape Crisis program that assists victims of sexual violence.
Like the DVCC, the Refuge House also offers community education and public awareness about domestic violence. They work with teens on how to communicate better and how to build healthy relationships.
It is difficult to pinpoint the reasons for domestic violence in every case. Also, once domestic violence is detected, it is hard for individuals to employ solutions and to prevent further instances.
Smith said that many times, victims will go back to their abusers.
“If they’re not ready to leave, they’re not going to leave. It doesn’t matter how many times you talk to them. If they’re not really ready to go, they’re not going to go. It has to be something that has to be deep down in them that they are going to leave that situation.”
Male victims, in particular, are sometimes worried about how their peers will see them as victims. Smith echoes an incident she dealt with along with other officers involving a male victim of domestic abuse.
“That guy, literally, he was like, ‘I just didn’t want that guy to know. What are my buddies going to say that this female beat me up?’” she said the client told her..
Smith urges individuals who suspect a loved one or a neighbor is experiencing domestic violence to get them help and support, even if they feel like they might be intruding.
Smith recalls an incident where neighbors failed to report instances of abuse and the abuse ended in a homicide. Smith says her and colleagues often question why individuals that hear or witness domestic violence don’t call.
Like the DVCC and the Refuge House, the Tallahassee Police Department’s Community Relations Unit offers teen dating violence education. The program goes into different high schools around Tallahassee to educate.
“The police department is truly here for you,” TPD’s public information officer Heather Merritt said. “When we’re responding to an incident, we will do everything we can to direct them to the right resources.”
Alyssa Cooper is a senior broadcast journalism student at Florida A&M University. Hailing from Tallahassee, FL., she is the Sports Editor of the FAMUan and the Sports Anchor for TV 20 News at Five.
