I think the series has been done very carefully and very thoroughly. One thing I think The Standard-Times could do for the people of this area, since...
Fifteen years ago, a group of community leaders in Duluth, Minn. grappled with ways to deal with a rising number of domestic violence cases.
NEW BEDFORD - Sergeant Kenneth Gifford pointed to the stack of guns crammed into the evidence closet at the New Bedford Police Department's firearms...
More than three years ago, Mary Lynne Alexion decided to do more than just sympathize with the plight of battered women.
When San Diego Police Sergeant Anne O'Dell took the helm of the newly-created Domestic Violence Unit in 1990, the number of murders linked to spousal...
Every batterer ordered into treatment in the Greater Lawrence area pays up - either in cash or time.
Seventeen years ago, Quincy police and prosecutors noticed an alarming rise in domestic violence killings.
NEW BEDFORD - Sergeant Rita Ribeiro flipped through the stack of photographs on her desk, stopping to gaze at the woman's swollen face, her bruised...
While police, prosecutors and the courts play an integral role in protecting victims, those in the field said more must be done to help abused women...
Susan Olejarz sees the tell-tale signs of domestic violence as she watches some toddlers play ``house'' at the United Front day care center.
Here are the key provisions of the Violence Against Women Act, signed into law Sept. 13, 1994:
But for the heedless crossing of a state line, Sonya Bailey's husband, the agent of her horrific six-day journey in the trunk of a compact car, might...
Shane Hayden learned the hard way what a violent temper, combined with an appetite for alcohol and drugs, could do to a man's life.
More men are being sent to county jails on domestic violence charges, but little or no money is being spent by authorities to treat those inmates...
On March 21, John F. O'Brien III of Middleboro was sentenced to 30 days in jail on charges he failed to stick to the terms of his probation.
When a woman steps into a courthouse to seek a restraining order, the type of help she gets depends on what court door she walks through.
One of society's chief weapons in the battle to halt domestic violence has become a weapon of a different sort in the hands of people involved in...
Massachusetts offers some of the best legal protection in the nation for victims of domestic violence, giving victims 24-hour access to restraining...
NEW BEDFORD -- When William Schick was quietly led off to serve 2½ years in jail in January for assault and battery, it marked a highlight for...
NEW BEDFORD -- In 15 minutes, the pen shaking in Janine's hand will be stilled.
When a battered woman comes to Ginger Waibel for help, it would seem a given that she would urge the woman to seek a restraining order.
Dealing with domestic violence is difficult enough without also grappling with a disability.
When police arrived at the house one summer day last year, the woman in her 70s was missing her two front teeth.
When there isn't an interpreter in the courtroom, Fall River Judge Phillip Rivard-Rapoza will lean over to the nervous people standing next to his...
Joe is struggling to balance what the law says and what he believes. The 50-year-old immigrant was arrested for striking his wife, an act he still...
They come to the United States seeking the American dream: Hope, freedom, jobs and a better life for their children.
The words rise from scripture and the pulpit: Thou shalt not kill. Love thy neighbor.
What is domestic violence?
NEW BEDFORD -- New Bedford High School junior Didi DaSousa couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Vilma M. Teves, who served as interim director of the UMass Dartmouth Women's Center, has a dream.
Seventeen-year-old Karen was just 14 when she met Steve. Three bumpy years later, she is still sorting out their relationship.
Sometimes the wounds are invisible, hidden scars in a tiny psyche, torn apart as a loved one is beaten. Watching, in the words of one social worker,...
Westport High School guidance counselor Tony Melli had just driven into the school parking lot one day last spring, when he saw a boy "slap his...
The following are risk factors identified by Richard Gelles, a highly respected domestic violence researcher and head of the Family Violence Program...
Donald beat his wife.
A little more than a year ago Harold, a 35-year-old accounting technician, jammed a pork chop into his wife's face as he sneered ``You disgust me.''...
NEW BEDFORD - Though domestic violence accounts for more injuries to women each year than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined, the state...
When researchers in Massachusetts tried to develop a profile of a typical batterer, a few illusions were shattered.
Education may be a key to changing long term attitudes about violence, but finding a safe haven from near-deadly blows is an immediate - and...
Domestic violence professionals say a restraining order is one tool to use toward personal safety, but a battered woman should follow up with a...
Leaving an abusive relationship is difficult enough without leaving behind important papers and other items necessary for routine daily life, such as...
He's smashed her on the head with a fan.
For that, he is now jailed.
FALL RIVER - When she left him for good and fled to the protection of family and friends, she refused to go outside.
As the shaken members of the Fairhaven Congregational Church settled into their pews the day after Kristine Sylvia's murder, the Reverend Roger Daley...
NEW BEDFORD - When Dotti Berrios walks into a room filled with law enforcement officials, she is stunned by their determination to stop domestic...
To Meekah Scott, he was a dream come true, a Prince Charming stepping off the pages of a fairy tale.
According to the Washington-based Employee Benefit Research Institute, it is estimated that American businesses spend between $204 million and $798...
Supervisors and co-workers can help subordinates and colleagues involved in an abusive relationship by being alert to the signs of abuse and willing...
Founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land, Polaroid Corp. has a reputation for adopting progressive human resources policies. That trend is especially evident...
Look around the lunchroom, glance down the assembly line. There's a good chance one of your colleagues is a victim of the epidemic.
When California became the first state to force doctors and nurses treating battered women to alert police, it ignited a heated debate on whether the...
The Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians has come up with steps - known by the acronym, RADAR - that doctors should take in recognizing and...
The American Medical Association offers the following points to doctors in its Treatment Guidelines on Domestic Violence, published in 1992:
Hospitals long have been regarded `Quiet zones' for the sick and injured. But when it comes to the war against domestic violence, they stand in the...
When Suzanne Phillips looks across the classroom at the start of her weekly anger workshops, some of the faces she sees are usually on the football...
When five UMass Dartmouth hockey players were arrested this month and charged with sexually assaulting another student, it renewed concerns that some...
Lately, Tipper Gore must be feeling like one seriously vindicated American.
There is no scientific proof that a man who watches a fictional rape on TV is suddenly more likely to commit rape.
New Bedford is second only to Boston in the number of emergency restraining orders issued by judges when courts are closed.
Those on the front lines in the battle against domestic violence struggle to find their own ways to ease the emotional stress of the job as, each...
You probably wonder why we have become such a violent society.
Linda Ladue thought she had the perfect life: An upscale home in the suburbs, two cars, a boat in the yard, two small children and money in the bank.
TAUNTON -- Raymond Eugenio paced the front of the conference room, his voice booming as nearly 100 police officers listened intently.
The second Sgt. Michael Lajoie stepped off the elevator, he could hear the yelling.
From the tenements of New Bedford to the luxury of Marion, domestic violence touches the lives of residents everywhere. Although police in larger...
Today, nearly 20 years later, Doris is still haunted by fear and scarred by the beatings.
Is your relationship bad for your health or heading into dangerous territory? Take this test and find out. If you answer yes to more than two of the...
It seemed a typical thing for a wife to leave her husband: a note on the kitchen table.
FAIRHAVEN -The children filed into the church, eyes brimming with tears.
A woman living with her boyfriend is twice as likely to become the victim of domestic violence as a married woman, an expert in field says.
Kathy was beaten when there was a dirty dish in the sink.
NEW BEDFORD -- Nine days before Christmas, the phone rings at the Police Department's Domestic Violence Unit.
New Bedford Detective Sergeant Rita Ribeiro spent the day at the hospital, looking into the swollen eyes of the battered woman, assuring her help was...