Domestic Violence News Headlines for the Week of Feb. 24

Here are some of the horrific domestic violence-related headlines you may have missed this week.

Indiana Father Kills Entire Family and Himself After Learning Wife Was Planning Divorce

Another harrowing murder-suicide out of Indiana last Friday—31-year-old Robert Payne murdered his three young daughters and his wife before taking his own life. Police discovered Robert, 27-year-old Briana Payne and her three daughters, Aurorah, age 7; Ava, age 6; and Alayna, age 4, all dead from gunshot wounds in their mobile home around 2:45 that afternoon. Though neighbors reported they heard fighting over the previous several days, they were “shocked” that the father would kill his entire family. Briana’s former employer told reporters she also saw red flags saying, “Anybody that wanted to get close to her or the kids, [Robert] wanted to create isolation.”

Isolation is a common tactic of abusers. It’s how they can continue to exert power and control without their victim being able to find support outside the relationship, which could help her escape. While it can seem intimidating, finding a safe way to support a stranger, friend, neighbor or coworker when you see the red flags of domestic violence could save their life. Read “5 Ways to Intervene When You Suspect Domestic Violence” for more information.

Briana’s mother told the local news station that her daughter informed her husband she was going to file for divorce just days before her murder. Her mother then urged “anyone suffering from mental illness” to please get help.

A common misnomer is that mental illness is to blame for intimate partner homicide or filicide, the murdering of one’s own children. While abuse and mental illness can overlap, mental illness is not the cause of domestic abuse. Most people with mental illness do not harm their partners. 

Abusers believe they are entitled to have power and control over their partners, a learned behavior that can stem from relationships they witnessed growing up or cultural and societal influences. Treatment for mental illness is not a guarantee that there will be an end to violence. For more information, read “Abuse Cannot Be Blamed on Alcohol or Mental Illness.”

Leaving is notoriously the most dangerous time for a victim of abuse. When the abuser feels like they are losing control of their partner, they may escalate their violence. It’s important to take threats seriously and never underestimate an abuser. Having a support system, like an advocate from your local shelter, and a safety plan in place before leaving can be lifesaving. It’s also recommended that survivors don’t reveal to an abusive partner that they’re planning to leave the relationship, even if it seems unfathomable that something like this could happen. Read “Will My Partner Be Violent After I Leave?” for more information. 

Sources: Live5News, ABC7 Chicago

Domestic Violence Costs Ohio More than $1 Billion a Year

Beyond its inherent danger and death toll, domestic violence, it turns out, is also very expensive. A newly released study by the Ohio Domestic Violence Network revealed that the state’s economy loses more than $1 billion every year to costs associated with intimate partner violence. This includes the price tags of things like healthcare for victims, worker productivity losses; increased costs of law enforcement, the judicial system, jail costs; and the long-term cost impact to children. 

This cost is comparatively low to what California estimates violence against women costs the state—over $73 billion a year—and it’s not even the state thought to have the biggest domestic violence problem. Data from the World Population Review shows Oklahoma ranking first for the most prominent domestic violence problem, with nearly half the population of women, or 49 percent, experiencing domestic violence. The other four states that round out the top five include Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada and Alaska, all with rates over 43 percent. 

Statistics that try to calculate the total cost of domestic violence nationwide seem off, estimating $8.3 billion per year, far less than California’s estimate alone. Other studies have calculated a $3.6 trillion cost over the lifetime of the total number of victims in the U.S., based on 43 million adults with a history of domestic violence, which doesn’t account for the cost of children affected by domestic violence. 

It’s estimated that anywhere from 21 to 60 percent of survivors of intimate partner abuse lose their jobs due to reasons related to abuse. For many survivors, violence at home spills over into their place of employment. Over 14,000 incidences of workplace violence per year are committed by current or former partners of an employee. For those who work from home, the rate of violence during work hours is likely much higher without the protections an outside office might provide. 

For more information, read “When Domestic Violence Follows You to Work.”

Source: Fox 8