•August 19, 2015•

by Mary Hughes
Moultrie County Dove Inc., Outreach Coordinator

Studies consistently report victims are at a 75% higher risk of serious injuries and/or death once the victim has decided to end a relationship and/or while they are trying to leave.   The abuser believes he no longer has the power to get the victim back and under his control.  This is the most dangerous time for the victim and her children.   Although no one can accurately predict when or if a batterer will kill or escalate violence to a life threatening level, there are many indicators that can serve as warning signs that a batterer may be reaching that level.  It is important to note that while these indicators are a valuable assessment tool, the presence or absence of one or more indicators cannot definitively predict the behavior of a batterer.

The most important indication of life-threatening violence is the victim’s perception of her danger.  If the woman is very afraid and says she will be killed or may be killed, then the possibility of life-threatening violence is present.  National experts on domestic violence state that battered women are usually the best evaluators of the potential for lethal violence because they generally have more information about the batterer than anyone other than the batterer himself.  At the present time it appears that the best approach to screening for life-threatening violence is a combination of the women’s perspective and the domestic violence advocate’s assessment.

As long as the perception exists that the victims’ reluctance is the problem, efforts will be focused around what the victim should and should not do.  The question frequently asked is “How can we get victims to cooperate better?”  But that is the wrong question to ask since it is not likely to lead to greater perpetrator accountability or victim safety.  The questions most likely to lead to effective, long term solutions are:  “What can be done to hold perpetrators accountable? And who is in the best position to do that?”     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.