National Domestic Violence Hotline Had Its Busiest Year Ever

The National Domestic Violence Hotline received more than half a million calls, texts and online chats in 2018 — marking its busiest year ever.

The 573,670 calls and other communications were a 36 percent increase from 2017, according to the hotline, which has provided 24-hour, year-round support since 1996 for individuals affected by relationship abuse.

Hotline CEO Katie Ray-Jones attributed the uptick to several major news stories, such as the allegations of domestic violence against the R&B singer R. Kelly and former White House staff secretary Rob Porter — allegations Kelly and Porter have denied — but also to an evolving cultural mindset in which survivors no longer feel a need to stay silent about abuse, prompted by the #MeToo movement that began in 2017.

Please read the full article at:  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/national-domestic-violence-hotline-had-its-busiest-year-ever-more-n1019231

Read More

The Startling Toll on Children Who Witness Domestic Violence Is Just Now Being Understood

New research is giving scientists more insight into the far-reaching and long-lasting harms of domestic violence to the children who grow up around it – including a startling finding: Witnessing abuse carries the same risk of harm to children’s mental health and learning as being abused directly.

Brain imaging in infants shows that exposure to domestic violence – even as they are sleeping, or in utero – can reduce parts of the brain, change its overall structure and affect the way its circuits work together.

Studies show that when babies born to mothers who were subjected to violence during pregnancy become adults, they have three times as much inflammation in their bodies as those whose mothers weren’t. Inflammation causes a much higher risk of poor health, and a far greater likelihood of depression.

Read the full article at:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/01/29/domestic-violence-research-children-abuse-mental-health-learning-aces/2227218002/

Read More

Florida Gov. Scott vetoes bill that would end permanent alimony in state

Gov. Rick Scott vetoed a bill late Wednesday that would have ended permanent  alimony in Florida.
Scott vetoed the measure (SB 718) just four hours before the midnight  deadline to approve or veto it. The bill automatically would have become law if  Scott had done nothing by then.
If it had become law, Florida would have become the fifth state to abolish  permanent alimony.
In a letter to Senate President Don Gaetz, Scott commended bill sponsors  Ritch Workman in the House and Kelli Stargel in the Senate — both Republicans  — and said there are “several forward looking elements of this bill.”
But alimony “represents an important remedy for our judiciary to use in  providing support to families as they adjust to changes in life circumstances,”  Scott wrote. “As a husband, father and grandfather, I understand the vital  importance of family.”
Read more:  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/01/florida-gov-scott-vetoes-bill-that-would-end-permanent-alimony-in-state/#ixzz2S9UgQc8k

Read More

Former 'Peanuts' voice actor Peter Robbins pleads guilty to threats, stalking

“An Oceanside man who as a child performed the voice of Charlie Brown in several ‘Peanuts’ animated television specials and movies pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of making criminal threats and stalking in connection with disputes with his girlfriend and a doctor who performed breast-enhancement surgery on her.”
Read more at: http://www.10news.com/news/former-peanuts-voice-actor-peter-robbins-pleads-guilty-to-threats-stalking-04102013

Read More

Ending Domestic Abuse with Loveisrespect

“One in three adolescent girls in the United States is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner. Loveisrespect is a “text for help” service designed to support young people in building healthy relationships and, ultimately, ending dating abuse. Sponsored by Mary Kay.”
View this important message at: http://www.thedailybeast.com/videos/2013/04/03/ending-domestic-abuse-with-loveisrespect.html

Read More

NFL's Amari Spievey arrested after fight over child support

” City native and Detroit Lions football player Amari Spievey was arrested in Middletown Tuesday after a dispute with his girlfriend about child support, police said.
Spievey, 24, was charged with third-degree assault, risk of injury to a child and disorderly conduct for the incident that happened shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday on Dove Lane, police said.”
Read more at: http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2013/03/27/news/doc51533cd82c06c557484524.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Read More

Ex-NFL players speak at violence rally

“An NFL legend expressed dismay Saturday that public campaigns and rallies must still be held to tamp down the instances of domestic violence that leave women battered and bruised.
Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach told a crowd of thousands in downtown that men should know better than to strike a woman. But domestic abuse continues to bedevil authorities in Dallas and elsewhere.”
Read more at: http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/9090019/roger-staubach-emmitt-smith-dez-bryant-speak-domestic-violence

Read More

After long wait, Violence Against Women Act renewal heads to Obama's desk

“After over a year of legislative limbo, the House passed a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Thursday, ending the partisan bickering that has plagued the bill since it expired in September of 2011.”
See more at:
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/28/17132759-after-long-wait-violence-against-women-act-renewal-heads-to-obamas-desk?lite

Read More

Domestic Violence Among the Wealthy Hides Behind ‘Veil of Silence’

“Domestic violence has ticked up since September 2008—and not only among the financially strained. Eliza Shapiro reports on the hurdles rich abused women face, from disbelief by peers to ‘legal dream teams.'”
 
See more at:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/28/domestic-violence-among-the-wealthy-hides-behind-veil-of-silence.html

Read More