There's a clear link between domestic violence and murder in New Hampshire - The Keene Sentinel

Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 12:15 pm | Updated: 11:44 am, Wed Oct 24, 2012.

There's a clear link between domestic violence and murder in New Hampshire 0 comments

New Hampshire law enforcement officials say the state needs to step up efforts to connect and educate victims of domestic violence about resources to help them escape dangerously unhealthy relationships. And a startling report released Monday by the N.H. Attorney General's Office backs up that assertion, showing that half the state's 159 homicides over the past decade — and 92 percent of 26 murder-suicides — were domestic-violence-related. Sadly, in 53 percent of those cases the murderer had a known history of domestic violence, but only 6 percent of the victims sought help. Equally disturbing is the fact that nationwide, only about 4 percent of domestic- violence-related murder victims seek help.

According to the 62-page report, Cheshire County had the fewest total murders, at 3 — compared to 64 in top-ranking Hillsborough County and 6 in the next-highest Coos County — but landed eighth among the 10 counties in its per-capita domestic violence murder rate. Of the three murders in Cheshire County between 2001 and 2010, two were domestic violence related.

The report illustrates that while many headline-grabbing murders are random incidents — such as the chilling 2009 Mont Vernon home invasion in which police said a group of young men broke into a house and stabbed a woman to death and severely injured her daughter — far more murders in the state are committed by people who not only know their victims, but live with them. And despite common stereotypes, it's not just men killing women — about 16 percent of the domestic-violence-related murders over the past decade were committed by women.

Part of the solution to this disturbing issue is finding ways for victims — who often feel fear and shame about their situations — to seek support in an environment where they feel safe and accepted. Help is available through more than in dozen organizations in the state that make up the N.H. Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Locally, victims of domestic violence can get information and access resources at the Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention (www.mcvprevention.org), which operates a 24-hour crisis hotline at 888-511-MCVP.

Gathering information about the prevalence of the state's domestic violence problem is a good first step. Next, state and community leaders should begin to seek ways to work with domestic violence prevention organizations in helping people in desperate situations know where to turn. Lives are depending on it.

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Posted in Editorial on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 12:15 pm. Updated: 11:44 am.