Quick Links

We have two quick links for you today:

Our partner organization Men Stopping Violence tipped us off to this great article at the Huffington Post entitled "Fathers Can Stop Violence, Too". We encourage you to read the whole thing.

Also, in a moment of self-promotion, we wanted to invite you to find us on facebook. Our fan list is growing strong, and we'd like our Facebook friends to become blog readers and our blog readers to become Facebook fans. You'll receive information and updates on our local work that you can connect back to our posts. Thanks!

Man Forces Pregnant Ex To Drink Bleach

In a story that provides credence to our recent post on reproductive coercion, the AJC is reporting that a Savannah man was arrested for forcing his pregnant ex-girlfriend to drink bleach.

Authorities say Alexis Milton is wanted on an aggravated assault charge. The charge stems from a June 10 incident in which authorities allege Milton walked into the unidentified victim's home and told everyone but her to leave. Savannah-Chatham Police spokeswoman Gena Moore says the victim alleges Milton then forced her to drink an unspecified amount of bleach or be killed, then punched her several times and took off.

This crime is especially egregious because the victim is pregnant, and it is hard to believe that her pregnancy was not a motive in this particular offense. Abusers often try to force their partners to miscarry or to have abortions they do not want. If the child survives such treatment, there are often major long-term health effects. Pregnancy is a time when abuse often increases, and it is vital that women experiencing abuse during pregnancy seek help. It is also important for obstetricians and midwives to receive training on the warning signs of domestic violence. Prenatal appointments can be an opportune time for doctors to discuss safety options with women without their partners present. If you are pregnant and would like to speak with an advocate, or if you work with pregnant women and would like to bring a domestic violence training into your workplace, please call our 24-hour hotline at 404-688-9436. (Outside of metro Atlanta: 1-800-33-HAVEN. Outside of Georgia: 1-800-799-SAFE.)

Emory University Models Campus Prevention

Emory University provides a great example of how dating and domestic violence can be addressed on colleges campuses, both with students and within education so that students leave with a model for addressing violence in their careers. A WRC board member, Dr. Sheryl Heron, co-chairs Emory's Intimate Partner Violence Working Group.

The IPV working group partners with the Center for Women, the Sexual Assault Prevention Office, the Emory Counseling Center, Pastoral Counseling Service and the Emory Police Department, and its members draw from these organizations and more.

“Our goal is to create a collaborative group so that we can support one another on some of the efforts,” [Paula Gomes, co-chair of Emory’s IPV working group] said. She added that the work aims to support each other while responding to a number of existing concerns within Emory students staff and members of the faculty.

An Emory initiative to combat intimate partner violence started by the IPV working group includes offering a protocol for health care professionals to follow up with patients who are suspected to be victims of intimate partner violence cases.

“In [the VCP report], they found that victims went to hospital emergency rooms, and they went to their friends and colleagues and tried to get help, but it wasn’t good enough because they were murdered,” Heron said.

She added that the group wanted to revive a protocol that wold be more updated in the language and content of definitions, which includes what they look for and how to ask questions and make referrals.

Heron said that among other indicators of IPV, chronic abdominal pain, a history of an attempted suicide or chronic headaches points towards an individual’s possibility of having IPV.

“It’s beyond just fixing the medical problem, but asking why,” Heron said. She said that there is still a long way to go, and added that the medical protocol provides yet another tool that health care professionals can access.

This protocol includes requiring health care professionals to routinely check patients for domestic abuse in an effort to decrease the amount of repeat offenses of intimate partner violence.

“The medical protocol goes hand in hand with the fatality reports because the fatality report clearly states that victims have gone to health care professionals prior to their death,” Heron said.

Two years ago, the IPV working group conducted a report on intimate partner violence and presented the findings to University President James W. Wagner.

However, many of their recommendations, such as the creation of a website for victims have not materialized since the report came during the nation’s economic downturn.

“The recommendations included the creation of a website and other resources and a central place where people can respond to intimate partner violence,” Heron said.

She added that the financing issues have not deterred the group from distributing the report or from working with the Center for Women to create a website which would ensure confidentiality and safety for those in need of the services.

Heron said that according to a survey given to the University, many are unaware of a clear definition for intimate partner violence.

“We have to continue educating our campus and our university about what partner violence is about and what it includes,” Heron said.

Despite Georgia’s high ranking this year, Gomes stressed that there are many avenues throughout campus for Emory students, staff and faculty to reach out to when experiencing IPV.

“We do see [IPV] as an issue an Emory, and I know there is a growing issue among students of dating violence and stalking,” Gomes said. “There are resources available for everyone on campus.”

Info comes courtesy of the Emory Wheel.

While You Were Sleeping

A surgeon in New Jersey is being sued by a patient for applying temporary tattoo of a rose to her pelvic region without her knowledge while she was under anesthesia.

"She and her husband were getting her dressed to come home and when she took off her gown, that's when she recognized that she had this tattoo below her panty-line," Mateo's attorney Gregg Shivers said.

During the operation for a herniated disc, Mateo was on her stomach, so Mateo and her lawyer claim the tattoo was placed on her by her doctor, Steven Kirshner, at some point afterwards when she would have had nothing on but a hospital gown.

Shivers claims Kirshner violated Mateo's right to privacy.

"Both her and her husband pretty much freaked out and they had no idea how it got there, she had been alone in the hospital, heavily medicated for pain the night before," Shivers said.

The surgeon claims that he has applied tattoos to many of his patients in order to "lift their spirits" after surgery.

Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University who was read a summary of the lawsuit, speculated about why a surgeon who had performed an operation on the back would leave a red rose on his patient's belly.

"It is not part of the doctor-patient relationship in that case," said Farley, a former president of the American Psychological Association who studies risk-taking personalities and behavior. "Unless you think you are Georgia O'Keeffe and you think people's bodies are your canvas," he said, "why would you take that risk?"

In her post on the story, Karnythia at Angry Black Woman writes:

But the idea that women’s bodies are public property doesn’t stop there. Catcalling, comments on weight, comments on hair or makeup from strangers are all just symptoms of a larger societal delusion that women’s bodies are a commodity first. Somehow we’ve gotten stuck in this idea that a woman’s valuing of her body as a part of her self comes second because her first role is to belong to the world at large. Women who refuse to accept that paradigm and insist on being recognized as people first whether it be by yelling back at catcallers, refusing to let strangers touch them, or filing suit when they feel they’ve been violated are then castigated for having the temerity to think that they can dictate what happens to their bodies. Apparently we’re just supposed accept these “lesser” intrusions and not take steps to reclaim that sense of safety because nice girls know their place and don’t delude themselves that they have a right to feel safe and comfortable.

Well, I’m with the women who yell back, who walk away, who press charges and file lawsuits. Because it is past time we got past this idea that being nice = being a willing victim that never complains. I don’t want to live in a reality where people think marking an unconscious woman without her permission is a-okay because it’s temporary, or he didn’t mean any harm, or there’s no proof that he “actually molested her” so she shouldn’t seek legal recourse. I know I’m talking crazy, but wouldn’t be nice to live in a world where women were viewed as people first?

We're with you, Karnythia.