A team approach

As your Violence Dismissed series showed, domestic violence is an increasing problem in North Carolina. States that have successfully addressed the issues of domestic violence are those that have developed a "coordinated community response," where law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, social services and other agencies have a common agreement and uniform approach.

Agencies work together, always focused on the victim. Law enforcement officers, once called to the scene and verifying an act of domestic violence has taken place, don't walk away without arresting someone, thereby getting the offender's attention early-on that there's no free ride. Prosecutors prosecute the offender whether or not the wife or partner wants to drop the charges. Penalties are stiffer early-on, and when offenders are referred to anger management classes or mental health treatment, there's follow-up by the appropriate agency to ensure the offender goes. Barriers to getting a restraining order are removed, and once one is awarded it's rigorously enforced, with severe penalties for the offender the first time the order is violated.

Our state's approach is disjointed and largely dependent on local attitudes. We should be ashamed. Societies that want to make a dent in the problem can. More laws are probably not the answer -- enforcing existing laws in a coordinated, victim-oriented way is.

June Brotherton

Apex

Abuse is everywhere

I applaud The N&O for highlighting the problem of domestic violence in your Violence Dismissed series. I wish, however, that the series had not seemed to stereotype the issue as one that affects only working-class families.

The May 20 article described a violent incident between a couple whose home was in danger of foreclosure. Next to this article was the tragic story of an estranged husband who committed triple murder and suicide in "a manufactured home."

The May 18 article related that one victim of domestic violence was so impoverished that she had to steal Slim Jims from a convenience store. The text and photographs made sure the reader knew that all three women profiled in the series lived in trailers.

Domestic violence is not limited to trailer parks. It can occur in gated communities in North Raleigh. It can happen next door. It can happen to you.

Pigeonholing domestic violence as a working-class problem distracts from the compelling message of the series: it is an abomination that we live in a state where someone can receive more jail time for stealing pine straw than beating his wife.

MaryBe McMillan

Raleigh

We at the U.S. Attorney's Office read with interest your series on domestic violence. Also, we concur with your editorial of May 21 that more needs to be done to combat domestic violence.

As part of President Bush's and Attorney General John Ashcroft's war on gun violence known as Project Safe Neighborhoods (and locally referred to as Operation TRAC -- Targeting Raleigh Area Criminals), there are several federal criminal statutes which local and state authorities should consider in dealing with abusive partners.

When an abusive partner is subject to an adjudicated restraining order or has been convicted of a state misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, under federal law that partner is a "prohibited person" and no longer permitted to own or have custody of a firearm. The mere possession of a firearm, even away from the abused spouse or partner, is a serious federal felony.

In most prosecutions for illegally possessing a firearm, it is unnecessary for the victim to testify. The law enforcement officer who discovered and seized the firearm instead can serve as the primary witness for the government.

Also, when an abusive partner actually crosses state lines, the federal government may prosecute that partner if the partner harasses, intimidates or injures the abused partner during a crime of violence. This also applies to interstate stalking and cyberstalking as well as an interstate violation of a state restraining order. These crimes, all part of the Violence Against Women Act, do not require the use or possession of a firearm as the other crimes require.

We hope and encourage local and state officers and prosecutors to consider the federal alternative in our joint war against domestic violence. The federal arsenal is powerful. The crimes are serious and carry meaningful and lengthy sentences of incarceration. Through our combined efforts, hopefully we can prosecute those partners who use violence and terror to win arguments against their spouses or partners. And more importantly, we can deter others from resorting to force in resolving domestic disputes.

Frank D. Whitney

United States Attorney

Raleigh

Raising awareness

Thanks for your Violence Dismissed series last week. As someone who works at a health care facility, we see the results of domestic violence cases first-hand in our Emergency Department.

This problem won't see meaningful improvement until citizens demand more of their law enforcement officers, district attorneys and judges. It may mean more funding for those officials, but it also requires a change in attitudes and priorities.

Other police departments and prosecutors -- Nashville, Tenn. and San Diego, Calif. come to mind -- have changed tactics against domestic violence with positive results.

Hospitals and other corporations should help raise awareness about the root causes of domestic violence, including sponsoring educational sessions for law enforcement officers, attorneys, social workers, EMTs and public school teachers.

Our hospital has conducted public awareness campaigns in the past, and is currently producing a two-part program for airing on public television in Charlotte.

Citizens can make a difference by educating themselves about the issue, and supporting efforts like those outlined by Leslie Starsoneck, executive director of the Domestic Violence Commission.

Phil Whitesell

Director, Community Relations

Rowan Regional Medical Center

Salisbury

There's another side

Your series on domestic violence was among the most slanted The N&O has ever produced.

You never mentioned problems that have occurred in other states with the "no drop" prosecution policies you seem to favor. Mothers with young children have lost their homes and been forced onto public assistance when the man on whom they depend loses his job because a single minor scuffle, for which both parties may be equally responsible, saddles him with a criminal record.

You claimed that violence against women is now "dismissed," but simple assault on a female is already treated as seriously as assault on a male which inflicts serious injury or involves a deadly weapon. Lay "advocates" and volunteer attorneys help victims of domestic violence navigate the confusing court system, shelters promote their safety, physicians volunteer to treat physical injuries. None of these services is available to victims of other crimes.

Far from dismissing domestic violence, we take it so seriously that unscrupulous women manipulate the court system in domestic disputes. Your Feb. 25, 2001 article "Elusive truths in domestic violence court" quoted a deputy clerk of court who estimated that 25 percent of domestic abuse allegations may be bogus, many brought by women who want "to get custody of the children, the house, the car, the pet."

Real domestic violence is terrible and some proposals, like the increase in penalties for repeat offenders, make sense, but your series wasn't journalism. It was propaganda.

Clyde Frazier

Department of History & Politics, Meredith College

Raleigh

Support the victims

I applaud your Violence Dismissed series. After more than 70 domestic homicides and thousands of women abused in our state in a single year, it's about time this issue was stripped down and thoroughly examined.

We should quit turning our heads or labeling domestic violence (which should actually be called intimate partner violence) as a "private issue." It's also time we stop blaming victims and applaud survivors rather than ask what took them so long to take action or let our "justice" system abuse them a second time in court when they do seek protection.

It's not fair -- nor is it any form of justice -- to allow an abuser's defense to include pathetic attempts to shift blame, such as irrelevant examinations of a victim's sexual history or outlandish personal accusations completely unrelated to the case. Seeking a protective restraining order is difficult emotionally and mentally. Being forced to undergo a second round of abuse by careless defense attorneys willing to create any possible angle to defend men who beat, control, harass and kill women is outrageous.

As your series outlined, clearly we must hold abusers accountable and develop consistent prosecution across the state. However, we must also begin treating victims with respect and support instead of contempt, disdain or judgment. We must also educate young women to recognize and report domestic violence immediately.

Kristen Burnette

Raleigh