‘167 survivors sought relief from the family court’

Stakeholders in the 22nd Domestic Violence Awareness Month have their picture taken at the Saipan World Resort. The event was hosted by the Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. (Erwin Encinares)

In the CNMI alone, a total of 167 people asked the Family Court Division for temporary restraining orders against their partners in 2015, all of them cases of domestic violence.

On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States—more than 12 million women and men over the course of a year.

These shocking statistics highlighted the proclamation signed by CNMI Gov. Ralph DLG Torres yesterday at the Saipan World Resort for the 22nd Domestic Violence Awareness Month, as hosted by the Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

According to the proclamation, domestic violence remains a serious but silent crime. While women make up the majority of the victims, men can experience this too, but the children suffer the most.

“Domestic violence affects every member of our community, especially children who are most vulnerable. Children who grow up in violent homes are more likely to have behavioral problems such as depression, anxiety, and poor social development. In addition, they are more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as drugs, and sexual assault crimes,” states part of the proclamation.

Torres said that it doesn’t matter who the violator is, and stressed that domestic violence should not tolerated. “If anyone of you sees me beating up my wife, I want you to call the cops. Because she doesn’t deserve it, neither do the kids. It doesn’t matter who they are. This is something that is [important] to all of us,” said Torres. “We were standing there when the students from Mount Carmel School came up and they asked, ‘Is it me? Did I do it? Am I responsible for why dad and mom are abusive?’ You don’t want your children to blame themselves for something that the elders are doing, so please, go out there, and if you see it, report it, if the Fire Department is not doing as much as we would like to, let me know. We’ll put more emphasis, more enforcement into it. With this, I would like to thank DVAM for the awareness that goes out in the community.”

NMCADSV executive director Maisie Tenorio said, “Obviously Domestic Violence Awareness Month is a time where we focus our attention on awareness on the issue. We work to find domestic violence all year long, but in October we try to focus our message to the community, the victims, and the survivors and let them know that we are here for them, and there are services and people available to educate the community about what domestic violence really is, so if they know someone or somebody that is close to them, they have a better understanding of what it is, because survivors tell us all the time that it is so hard to report. …We are trying to make it easier for them, to try and create a space where they are empowered, so that they could reach out and get help, and have a healthier and safer relationship, because it can get very dangerous for victims to leave.”

For more information, contact the Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence at 234-3878.