Weather
Parnell Addresses Domestic ViolencePolice, agencies, say men are overlooked victimsAlaska leads the nation when it comes to domestic violence rates. That is why Governor Sean Parnell addressed the issue in his third State of State address. There is a part of the population though, that’s underserved, because victims are traditionally thought of as women. According to the Centers For Disease Control 1 in 7 men have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner. But it's something that's rarely talked about or even reported for reasons like shame, embarrassment or simply because men don't know where to go to get help. “We will not rest until every Alaskan is safe from abuse and terror,” said Governor Sean Parnell on Wednesday in a call for Alaskans to stand up against domestic violence across the state. “It’s about each of us honoring the dignity and value of every human being. Increasing public safety means shining the light of justice and a ray of hope in places where domestic violence and sexual assault have ruled.” Parnell is putting his money where his mouth is by allocating $12 million to curb the statistics. Nearly 6 in 10 women in Alaska are abused at some point in her lifetime. But Anchorage police and Anchorage's primary domestic violence service provider, the Abused Women’s Aid In Crisis, say abuse is not just one sided. “That's emotional control, isolation, intimidation, threats,” said Suzi Pearson, the executive director, AWAIC. “Men are victims of domestic violence, just as well as women.” “We see that a lot more often than I think people realize,” said APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker. “We'll find couples that are engaged in domestic violence and it goes both ways and sometimes one will get arrested, sometimes the other will get arrested.” Police say most men don't admit they've been abused or fear of being stigmatized and looking weak. “When you think about a man being a victim of domestic violence there's a cultural intonations that men are shamed just like any other victim but there’s the shame that I am supposed to protect myself,” said Pearson. “For a man trying to protect himself, that is a real challenge because they often are stronger.” But help is available for men. “With the name ‘abused women's aid in crisis,’ you assume that it’s a women's agency but we serve domestic victims, men, women and children,” said Pearson. Services include placing them in shelters and giving them options to be safe. Options that can be as simple as running away from a dangerous situation. In the past year AWAIC has provided services to three men with one of them actually going to a shelter. Police say they are consistent in how they treat domestic violence cases to determine who the primary aggressor is to make an arrest. But if they are not involved it doesn't mean you still can't get help. AWAIC’s 24-7 crisis line number for men, women, and children or people who know someone getting abused is 272-0100.
|
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
|
You have indicated this comment should be removed.
The comment has been submitted for review. Thank you .
goodbyeearl said on Thursday, Jan 19 at 6:56 PM
dv should be 25 years, no questions, and that's if the person he or she hurt survives.
80137746wow are you kidding me? said on Thursday, Jan 19 at 11:53 PM
Folks I know a young mother with four kids in the Houston area whose kids got raped by the now ex and no one cared that she had to get 3 DVPO and a conviction to get him out of the house...then he drove a school bus...nice very nice hu SEAN PARNELL? Like he cares give us a break Captain ZERO!!!
80143769the legalities are... said on Friday, Jan 27 at 3:24 PM
that mother can sue the perpetrator for lost wages and other losses in a court of law...being it's Houston then Palmer courts is the place to file.. Good Luck to her and her children...God Speed...
80529118word is... said on Saturday, Jan 28 at 11:48 AM
the investigators are being stonewalled and labels tossed around towards victims and their families. what a tragedy to go thru something horrific and find out a family friend just labels someone and poof the investigations stall and children suffer. Parnell is someone's puppet. some politics.
80560719OfficeOfCivilRights said on Saturday, Jan 28 at 4:23 PM
I encourage anyone effected by State of Alaska past administration and/or current one to file an online complaint to the Office of Civil Rights. You can go to the WhiteHouse website and scroll down to file. The more they know the better results it will be for those effected by the lack of Civil Rights in Alaska.
80567453Add a comment
Most Popular