Convert Outrage into Action to Reduce Domestic Violence

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Kamala Shugar For The Register-Guard

Three domestic homicides in Lane County in the first 54 days of 2004. Three women dead. The community is rightly outraged. But to whom do we turn our outrage?

Ten years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded Lane County a $3.1 million grant to combat domestic violence. They defined domestic violence as a national epidemic. In six years, we implemented lasting changes in our justice and social service systems to support victims and to hold batterers accountable.

So how is it that we find ourselves with not one, but three, deadly examples of why systemic changes are not enough? Yes, the overcrowded jail failed Paula Benitez, for whom I grieve deeply. But what about the other two …

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Publication information: Article title: Convert Outrage into Action to Reduce Domestic Violence. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Register Guard (Eugene, OR). Publication date: March 1, 2004. Page number: A11. © Not available. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group.

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