Tough laws sought to curb domestic violence

She has always dreamed of living in a happy home but her parents separated when she was 10. At 16, Carol quit school. At 17, she decided to live with her boyfriend Sam and gave birth to their first baby.

She thought everything was perfect until she discovered the other side of Sam. Almost every night, he would go home drunk, start an argument and throw just about anything he would see inside the house.

The shouting and screaming matches later on escalated to physical assault — slapping, punching and kicking. “The following day, he would be so sweet , apologizing to me that he would not do it again. I would forgive him of course because I loved him so much,” Carol said.

For five years, Carol endured the beatings, not seeking any help from her family. “I wanted to escape Sam but I was so embarrassed to go home to my family, to admit that I made a mistake,” she said.

Until one day, she decided to put an end to everything. Despite pleadings from Sam who promised it would never happen again, Carol packed her bags and left him for good.

Unfortunately, it is not easy for many women who are trapped in the same situation to make a decision to leave their husbands or partners behind.

According to Laura Tenorio Flores, coordinator of the Family Violence Task Force, the major gaps in services and the big flaws in the criminal justice system have stopped women from getting out of situation where domestic violence is perpetrated.

Aside from being afraid for their safety, economics is also a major factor as women worry about where they would get financial support for the children to survive.

“It frustrates me but I understand them why it is so hard to leave. They go back to a dysfunctional relationship because they have to survive,” Ms. Flores added.

Increasing

In 1999, the Family Violence Task Force recorded 461 primary victims of family violence or persons whom the violence was directed at and 411 secondary victims, usually the children.

While Chamorros still top the list of ethnic groups with a total of 530 victims, Filipinos have consistently placed second with 210 cases in 1999.

The Division of Family Court recorded about 432 temporary restraining orders issued on civil protection cases and 427 temporary restraining orders on criminal domestic violence cases between 1997 and 1999.

In 1999 alone, the Attorney General’s Office filed 236 cases on domestic violence before the Superior Court.

The cases filed do not include the number of complaints reported to the Department of Public Safety. In 1999, DPS received a total of 989 domestic and family violence complaints. In the first quarter of this year, some 166 complaints have been lodged with DPS.

DPS has been actively involved in the Family Violence Task Force since its creation in December 1995 through the establishment of Domestic Violence Unit within the Criminal Investigation Bureau.

As a result of the increase in workload, DPS has increased the number of investigators to the Family Violence Task Force to investigate incidents of domestic abuse, said Sgt. James C. Deleon Guerrero.

The zero tolerance policy of DPS on domestic abuse has led in the adoption of policy requiring the filing of cases with the AGO within 30 working days upon receipt of the complaint.

“Our biggest problem is the noncooperation of people in reporting domestic violence incidents. They do not realize that they can save the lives of innocent children from being further traumatized in a violent environment,” said Mr. Deleon Guerrero.

Victims

In a move to help victims of domestic violence, the AGO has recently decided to prosecute every case that’s filed in court on domestic violence even if the victim has expressed willingness to withdraw her complaint, said Assistant Attorney General Nicole Forelli. “It is now the government filing the case and not her so it does not matter if the victim wants the case dropped,” she said.

Sadly, the children are most affected in cases of domestic violence, with most of them showing signs of violent tendencies in school.
“Violence may be passed from generation to generation. Children who are raised in violent homes see that love and violence are intertwined, that they are one and the same,” said Ms. Flores.

Ms. Flores said children in violent homes have high risk of alcohol dependence, drug abuse and becoming juvenile delinquents. Again, women are forced to stay with their husbands or live-in partners because child support is very difficult to enforce in the CNMI. “You can get a court order again and again but the offenders just keep on violating it,” she added.

With the huge number of domestic offenders on the island, the Probation Office could not adequately supervise all of them. According to Probation Officer Anthony Gomez, probation revocation has been found ineffective in deterring future domestic violence incidents.
“They may have finished their probation and successfully completed their counseling but still come back on another case,” he said.
The most effective solution to the problem is passing a tough law on domestic violence, said Ms. Flores. “Statistics show that quick, sure criminal justice intervention will give us the results. The perpetrators can go to counseling but they can choose to stop attending after two to three times,” she added.

Since there is a big number of repeat offenders, women are discouraged to trust the system as the filing of cases against their partners only adds tension to the situation.

“It is very frustrating to see repeat offenders who do not care and keep on violating the terms of probation. We need aggressive arrest and stiff jail sentence. There has to be a criminal sanction if they don’t fulfill the terms of probation,” said Ms. Flores.

Mr. Gomez shares the view that the CNMI needs a tough domestic violence law on the island to properly address the problem. A study conducted by the John Hopkins University showed that at least 53 countries have already passed legislation on domestic violence.

The financial costs associated with domestic violence specifically health care becomes a burden on the government as it is forced to share the medical cost if a victim is a civil servant.