kcoy.com | October 10, 2013
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif- Today over 130 service providers got together to discuss ongoing problems with domestic violence and mental health.
“Due to economic instability and family stressors we are seeing a change and a trend in domestic violence being a little more prominent with families that are experiencing a lot of stress,” said Melinda Sokolowski of Community Action Partnership of SLO. Victims come from all walks of life and a lot of the time don’t ever think they will become a victim of domestic violence.
“It starts with tension building in the house and you can think of that as where you walk into the room you know something’s wrong, you’re not sure what, and then there will be a violent outburst,” said Beth Raub, of the Women’s Shelter of SLO. “That can be anything from the screaming, punching the wall, to a broken arm, all the way up to homicide.”
According to the DA’s Office domestic violence and mental health usually go hand in hand. That’s why it’s important for victims to get help. “Once they are in a relationship if it turns abusive they are not equipped with the kinds of tools they need to get out of that relationship,” said Deputy District Attorney Dan Dow. “So often our victims are victimized multiple times and by multiple partners.”
It’s a crime that largely goes unreported. “They are many cases that we receive every week where victims will say this is the first time they have ever reported but yet they have been abused 5,10,15 times before,” said Dow.
The DA’s Office takes in about 7-hundred domestic violence cases a year and prosecutes about 5-hundred of them.
