Police say more women being arrested for the crime
By Kristen Munson and Marilyn Dubil
Morgan Hill – The doors at Community Solutions have been swinging open a lot lately, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. The nonprofit human services agency has received about two new domestic violence clients each day, a spike considering they used to help that many new clients each week.
“This February has been very hectic for us,” said Assistant Program Director Perla Flores. “Usually our busiest times are close to summer because a lot of women will wait until the kids are out of school to leave.”
Statistically, rates rise near holidays and taper off afterwards.
Community Solutions helps house about 77 women and 85 children who are trying to escape their current domestic situations each year.
“I think it definitely goes in spurts,” Flores said.
Officers in the Morgan Hill Police Department would agree, said Sgt. David Swing.
“It ebbs and flows, certainly,” he said. “You tend to see more on weekends, during holiday periods, but there are times when you think there will be a lot of problems when there are none.”
Swing, who is the resident expert in the MHPD on domestic violence, said that domestic violence is on the increase citywide and the trend is not unique to Morgan Hill, though he did not have crime numbers available by press time.
“You are seeing it happen more, but the discussion is, are we having more incidents, are more incidents being reported, are we better at offering services, at recognizing domestic situations, or a combination of all of those,” he said. “I do believe we have seen more over the past few years.”
In order to compare the rates of calls between cities of varying sizes, the calls are scaled so they can be compared at a rate of 100,000 residents. Morgan Hill led the county with the highest rate of domestic violence calls for service with about 642 calls per every 100,000 individuals, followed closely by Campbell with 496 and Gilroy at 492, according to the county Public Health Department.
Swing also said that there are more women being arrested for domestic violence than in the past.
While both men and women suffer from violence from their partners, the figures may indicate something other than females becoming the aggressor – it may be because they are fighting back.
The majority of studies of domestic violence arrests for females show that most women are battered themselves and are using violence to stop their aggressor.
And sometimes this means arresting both parties if police cannot determine who was the aggressor of the incident. Swing said occasionally MHPD officers will arrest both parties; however typically the officers will make a further attempt to determine which party is the victim.
“Even if the fight is over, we can usually determine who the victim is,” Swing said. “What we are looking for is not who started the fight, but who is the dominant aggressor.”
Sometimes, in fear of the other party or for other reasons, the victim is unwilling to admit they have been abused.
“Based on the investigation, and we will separate the parties, take one or the other to a place of safety, offer advocate services, but it is the decision of the officers, not the victim to press charges,” Swing said. “If officers believe there is evidence of abuse, there will be an arrest.”
Community Solutions has worked with many female clients arrested for the violence when they were actually the victim, Flores said.
“Unfortunately, the perpetrator appears calm and collected (when police arrive) and it appears the victim is the aggressive one,” she explained.
Once recent case she cited was of a female Spanish speaking immigrant arrested when police found a scratch on her husband. According to Flores, he had tried to throw a table on top of her and when she pushed it away it hit him.
Swing said the problem in Morgan Hill “knows no boundaries.” It crosses racial, social and economic lines, he said, even gender lines. According to the most recent Public Health Department figures which show 3 percent of males reported they were victims of violence from their partner while 12.3 percent of females claimed they were abused.
“And, as with other crimes, the presence of alcohol or other intoxicants increases the likelihood,” Swing said.
And while many victims choose to stay with their aggressor for financial reasons, or because they do not want to lose custody of their children, or because they fear their status as illegal immigrants, some choose to leave.
“Every victim is the expert of her own situation,” Flores said. “She knows what will happen if she fights back, she knows what will happen if she calls the cops, she knows what will happen if she leaves.”
Swing said services for victims – both male and female – have improved over the years, but the chronic problem in modern society shows no signs of disappearing.
“We have more to offer, but obviously the problem is still there,” he said. “It’s one of those things that you can treat the symptoms, deal with the results, but I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to cure it.”
Marilyn Dubil covers public safety for the Morgan Hill Times. Reach her at 779-4106 ext. 202 or by e-mail at md****@*************es.com.
