Last year, 17,975 incidents of domestic violence were reported in San Diego County. That is an increase of 6 percent from 2014, according to San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) data. Sixteen people lost their lives in domestic violence incidents that same year where the suspect was the victim’s current or previous partner.
As part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, San Diego agencies are seeking to educate the public to recognize the signs, and thus prevent serious incidents.
Claudia Grasso, Deputy District Attorney at the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, stated that the rise in the number of reported incidents could be a result of more people losing the fear of reporting them. “We’d like to be more optimistic and think that more people are reporting incidents; that they are aware of the signs, and that victims have more resources in the community to get out and get services,” she said.
Realizing that many incidents of violence start from the dating phase, this year the San Diego District Attorney’s Office launched a strategy to educate teens on the issue. In 2015, the District Attorney’s Office prosecuted close to 70 cases involving 12-to-17-year-old teens.
As part of the campaign, brochures in English and Spanish were handed out at schools and other places frequented by teenagers so they can be informed and learn to recognize the signs of an abusive or controlling relationship.
The Deputy DA also shared that many of the perpetrators become violent due to the fact that they grew up witnessing this kind of behavior at home with their parents.
“Children who are with families where there is domestic violence are growing up to become the aggressors and the victims because that’s what they are living,” said Grasso. “What we want to do now is to educate young people so they can see and recognize these signs, so they can see that that slap and that control are the beginning of domestic violence.” San Diego County has resources to protect victims and their children should it become necessary, she added.
In order to help victims lose the fear of reporting incidents, the efforts include helping them get a job and/or providing a safe place so they can leave the home and no longer depend on their aggressor financially.
Maria Garcia, Program Manager at San Diego’s Interfaith Shelter Network, an organization that provides temporary shelter to victims of domestic violence, has also seen an increase in demand for shelter in recent months. “We have seen an increase in the number of families asking us for help. Most of these families come from other states, but they are fleeing; their families with many children,” she said.
“[The victims] are suffering serious impacts. Nationwide statistics show that one in four women will experience domestic violence at least once during their lifetime. When they come to us, these women arrive with nothing: with no money, without their clothes, without their personal effects, and they have to start all over”.