Domestic abuse incidents can have effects that are utterly devastating in nature. Family violence sometimes even leads to victims having their very lives taken from them.
This is reflected in some tragic numbers from Dallas County. Between 2009 and 2011, 34 individuals in the county were killed by an intimate partner.
A study done on these Dallas County domestic violence homicides indicates that one thing that many of the victims had in common was not seeking out help for the domestic violence they were facing.
Very few of the victims sought out help from the police, advocates or other professionals. Only three of them had put in applications to get a protective order put in place, and none of them had an active, valid protective order in place at the time of their death. Also, none of the victims had gone to a domestic violence shelter.
These findings underscore how important help and protection is for domestic abuse victims. Getting the right help and protection is among the things that can go a long way in getting domestic violence victims out of a situation where they could easily be exposed to further, dangerous violence by their abuser.
What things do you think can pose the biggest barriers to domestic abuse victims seeking out help? What do you think could help minimize or knock down these barriers? What do you think should be done in Dallas County and the rest of Texas to help better ensure family violence victims get the protection and help they need?
Family law attorneys are among the professionals that domestic violence victims can go to for help with their situation. Such attorneys can help such individuals understand what actions can be taken to help get them out of an abusive situation and can provide such individuals with assistance with protective orders and other important legal protection matters.
Source: The Dallas Morning News, “Murdered domestic violence victims in Dallas County didn’t seek help, study says,” Melissa Repko, August 11, 2015