Domestic Violence Headlines for the Week of Feb. 17

Welcome to some of the domestic violence-related headlines you may have missed this week. 

AI Tool to Help Identify DV Survivors in the Emergency Room

An AI tool could start identifying domestic violence survivors in the emergency room with 80 percent accuracy. The Automated Intimate Partner Violence Risk Support System (AIRS) uses an algorithm to evaluate a patient’s medical history and X-ray data through their electronic health records and measures their risk and severity of intimate partner violence. So far, AIRS has been utilized at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Emergency Rooms in Boston and its surrounding primary care sites.

Healthcare workers are often on the lookout for injuries that indicate the patient is a survivor of domestic violence. Many survivors are afraid to report the violence, often because the abuser is present with them at the emergency room, because they’ve been threatened not to disclose the abuse or they feel shame in being an abuse survivor. They may also be minimizing the abuse in their own minds, not quite ready to admit that their partner could be capable of violence. For more, read, “Through the Eyes of an ER Physician.” 

AIRS co-founders Irene Chen and Bharti Khurana say that many victims of intimate partner violence detected by AIRS had suffered a broken ulna, a bone in the forearm, saying that they had fallen down but did not “catch” themselves. However, say medical professionals, this would be more likely to lead to a broken wrist, while a broken ulna is more commonly a defensive injury signaling an attack by someone from above. Learn more about “hidden” physical signs of intimate partner violence with “Three Hidden Signs of Physical Abuse.”

The hope is, by identifying a patient through AIRS, survivors will take advantage of free, confidential resources like access to advocates and legal representation. 

AIRS was developed thanks to a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and has taken over five years to create. Chen and Khurana are now working to expand its implementation across more hospitals.  

Source: Fast Company

UK Man Will Spend Life in Prison for Killing Ex-Girlfriend After She Broke Up with Him

On Monday, a UK judge sentenced Logan Burnett, 27, to life in prison for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend, Courtney Mitchell. On Aug. 6 of last year, just three days before Mitchell’s birthday, the mother of three was out with friends when, around 7 p.m., the group spotted Burnett and began to run. Burnett caught up to Mitchell and pinned her against a fence, punching her before he began stabbing her repeatedly with two knives he had in his possession. Evidence showed Burnett stabbed her with such force that a blade on one of the knives was “significantly bent.”

Michell suffered catastrophic blood loss and died at the hospital. 

During Burnett’s trial it was revealed that the two met when they were both having addiction issues with alcohol and drugs. Mitchell told friends Burnett was physically and verbally abusive and had threatened to kill her. After Mitchell became sober, she broke up with Burnett. That’s when his violence increased.

The BBC reported that Burnett told Mitchell he "would stab her if she talked to another boy", warned her that he knew where she lived and told her friends "I am going to stab Courtney and kill her whole family" the day before killing her.

Jealousy is often an ominous red flag of abusive behavior. In Burnett’s case, the jealousy manifested as a credible threat that, combined with stalking, put Mitchell in serious danger. On the day of her murder, Burnett attempted to contact Courtney 22 times in a five-hour period. 

Abusers are often their most desperate after a survivor escapes. The crux of intimate partner violence is power and control, and when an abuser feels they’re losing control, they’ll often do anything to gain it back, including homicide. 

Escalation—which can look excessive jealousy or paranoia, threats of harm, and acquiring a weapon—is a sign that the stalker is becoming more agitated that they can’t establish control. Escalation often means they’re moving into the next phase of a potentially violent plan and should be taken very seriously. Research from the National Institutes of Justice found 71 percent of stalkers whose victims are current or former partners ended up following through on threats of violence, assaulting their victims.

Samantha Mitchell, Courtney’s mother, told media after Burnett’s sentencing that she and all of Courtney’s friends and family, have vowed to keep her memory alive.

"She will not just be remembered as another young woman who got murdered; she will not be another statistic. We vow to her to do everything in our power to raise awareness in her name [of domestic violence]. This is a national problem that needs to be taken seriously."

Femicide is a global epidemic. Intimate partner homicide is one type of femicide, or the targeted killing of women and girls because of their gender. According to a 2023 UN report on femicide, 60 percent of female murder victims worldwide are killed by an intimate partner or family member. An average of 140 women and girls across the globe are killed daily at the hands of a partner or family member.  

Sources: BBC.com, Suffolk Constabulary

Pennsylvania Man Shoots Girlfriend, Baby and Himself—Infant Survives

A murder-suicide in Reading, Penn., on Monday left behind an infant with a gunshot wound. When police arrived on scene around 2:15 p.m., after neighbors called 911 to report gunshots, they found Jesus Peñaloza Cruz had shot and killed his girlfriend, Selena Zavala-Hernandes, their two-month-old child and himself. The injured baby was airlifted to a nearby hospital. As of Wednesday, the baby was in stable but critical condition at a Philadelphia hospital. 

Berks County District Attorney John Adams told local reporters he blamed guns for the relentless domestic homicides.  "There's too many guns, too many guns on the street," Adams said. "Too often, people end up in disputes, they use violence. They use a firearm."

At least 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, while another 4.5 million women in the United States have been threatened by an intimate partner with a gun. Additionally, a domestic violence survivor is five times more likely to be killed by an abuser when there’s access to a firearm.

However, domestic violence and its escalation to homicide cannot be blamed on guns alone, though easy access to firearms certainly increases a survivor’s risk of death. Abusers often share a sense of entitlement, perpetuated by cultural beliefs or witnessing controlling and abusive relationships in their childhood. 

The other domestic violence homicide that occurred in Reading, Penn., just weeks prior on Jan. 29 was committed with a knife. Samuel Lopez-Ordones stabbed to death his ex-girlfriend Daniela Allende at her home. Authorities say they were in the process of breaking up and Ordones had just moved out of the home the couple had shared. He is now being held on charges of first- and third-degree murder. 

It’s vital to take seriously any warning signs that an abuser is escalating their violence after separation, which is usually the most dangerous time for a survivor. A danger assessment tool can help predict the level of danger a survivor is facing during or after a relationship with an abusive partner. 

Adams also added that there was a documented history of domestic violence of Cruz against Hernandes, but no criminal charges had been filed. Not every survivor of domestic violence chooses to press charges, and there are various valid reasons for that. One is that she may be afraid of additional consequences from the abuser, who has likely threatened her, her children, her pets or her family if she discloses the abuse. The survivor may also be caught in a cycle of abuse that includes a period of remorse from the abuser, promising the abuse will never happen again, that he’ll get help and subsequently makes promises for a bright, happy future (that will likely never come).  

Source: WFMZ.com

Military Freezes Abuse and Harassment Prevention Programs on Trump’s Order

After President Trump signed an executive order to end all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, both the Marine Corps and Navy issued a directive to pause all trainings related to sexual assault prevention and reporting. It is unknown if the Army, Air Force and Coast Guard will also freeze their programs. 

The Sexual Assault Prevention and Reporting training program was first implemented in 2005 to prevent sexual assault and abuse within the military. While it primarily focuses on training service members how to identify and report sexual assault and harassment, it also includes education and awareness regarding domestic abuse, the nature of consent, standards for victim assistance services and how to safely report abuse within the military. 

The Department of Defense received 8,500 reports of sexual assault in 2023 and took disciplinary action on 1,800 of those cases. They estimate only about 25 percent of service members who experience unwanted sexual contact report it. 

Domestic violence is also widely underreported in the military, often because of a survivor’s fear that the solider-abuser will face repercussions that could prevent them from being promoted, or could even lead to the end of their military career. With many military couples existing on the income of the soldier alone, the idea of losing this income can be a deterrent to reporting abuse. 

According to a Pentagon report from 2011, “Soldiers with PTSD are up to three times more likely to be aggressive with their female partners than those without such trauma."  The highest rates of domestic violence within the military, according to the Department of Defense, occur within the Army, followed by the Marines, Navy and then the Air Force.

Without a safe option to report abuse or assault, many survivors may end up enduring the trauma alone, putting themselves at greater risk for further violence by a military partner or coworker.

“We’re seeing a lot of things happen very quickly that aren’t well thought out,” says Elisa Cardnell, chief executive of the Service Women’s Action Network, an advocacy organization for women in the armed forces about the pause in educational programs. “It is very worrisome.”

Source: Los Angeles Times