Victims of Silence

By: Ada M. Álvarez

Fans looked up to them. People couldn’t believe it had happened. Organizations rarely talked
about the subject. Schools appeared to be safe from this. But everything changed when the
beating was made public.

Christopher, 19 years old, and Robyn, 21, were dating for a year and a half. Based on the police
report the 6th of February of 2009 while he was driving in Los Angeles, California; he received a
text message from an ex girlfriend that started a fight. Christopher was angry; he stopped the car
and tried pushing her out. The seat belt got stuck and we he saw he couldn’t push her out
Christopher grabbed her head and started smashing it to the window. He got more aggressive and
started punching her in her stomach and chin. The car and her clothes had blood stains and he
continued punching her saying “wait till be get home, I’m going to kill you”. But the difference
between this case and other cases of dating violence is that Christopher and Robyn had
something different: fame and fortune.

Christopher, better known as Chris Brown is an R&B singer and has gotten into the first
positions of the Billboards. And Robyn, better known as Rihanna, has achieved even more global
recognition with her music. The “golden girl of Barbados” has already won more than 16
awards, including album of the year at the Grammys and video of the year for the MTV Music
Awards. But even with all that fame, Rihanna said to the police that the incident wasn’t the first
one.

The incident between Chris Brown and Rihanna caught the attention of the media and
organizations that worked against domestic violence. The studies what were done about violence
between teens started to get published. This had a specific name: dating violence. Based on the
Council and National Crime Forum of the United States in the last five years it has been

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established that in average, one of every three teens have been through dating physical,
emotional or sexual violence by their partner.

The Prevention Institute of Minnesota released a report that says that working with prevention,
before something happens and the early signs of dating violence, will decrease future cases of
domestic violence. The Federal Bureau of Investigation in a study of statistics of crime from
1998-2002 established that approximately a women is beaten up by her partner in the USA every
15 seconds. News that Rihanna was beaten up not only surprised the media, but it developed a
public interest for statistics on this issue. The frequency of dating violence incidents and the
actions that came after this accident was public had a local, state and national impact.

The difference between domestic and dating violence is not much. The page of the Association
of Psychologists establishes that dating violence precedes domestic violence and it could even
have greater consequences because it affects teens in the years that form their life, especially
their emotional health. It sais too that the emotional damage could be so much that the person
condemns herself, if not treated, to enter a cycle of abuse and negative behaviors that could cost
her life while creating a very low self-esteem.

Victims of physical violence in a relationship are in higher risk of smoking, using drugs,
becoming bulimic or anorexic, have risky sexual behaviors and consider suicide, based by a
Psyquiatric study done by Dr. Decker Silvermans about teens and illness. Comparatively with
girls who haven’t been abused, those who have experienced physical and sexual violence have
three times more risks of getting a Sexual Transmitted Disease in their lifetime.

Leona Smith, from Peace Over Violence, commented that Rihanna’s case: “is confusing and that
is good because it makes people think and question things. Young people say their songs are
good and that he seems like a nice person, they don’t understand how they can do this. However
we think that dating relationships shouldn’t be taken seriously, when on the contrary, they could
bring proof of what is good or not from the beginning. They aren’t good examples of couples on
the news and this incident opened the space so that schools and parents asked themselves
something that has always been important to ask: what is a healthy relationship?; what is

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normal?; how it should be?, what do you really know of your partner and how do you handle
emotions?”.

The Law of Florida in chapter 741 states that dating violence is an action that is done regularly,
out of reason and justice between individuals that have or had a continuous and significant
relationship of intimate and romantic nature. Violence between boyfriends and girlfriends are
considered as dating violence when the partners do not live together. A couple that lives together
or that live in different places but has a child, do not fall under this category; it is then considered
domestic violence. If they don’t share a home, which is the case of many teens and people who
are older that live separately, is dating violence.

Violence in a relationship based on the World Health Organization, refers to any action or
omission that damages the partner physically, emotionally and sexually, with the intention of
having domination and control over the other. Attacks include damaging self esteem by insults
and putting the partner down, manipulation and can get to beating up the other person. Based on
programs of intervention of violence in Minnesota, what sustains the cycle of violence,
particularly the emotional, is an effect based on fear, where the victims behavior turns to have a
sense of obedience under that type of control. “It’s a problem that is hidden and it’s getting worst
while we pass through these difficult times”, said Esta Soler, president of the Family Violence
Prevention Fund.

For Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization Against Women, what is surprising
was the reaction of the younger population to the news. Some teens filled a questionnaire done
by Pangea Pulse of the Tampa Tribune , where 60% stated that Rihanna should leave Chris
Brown, while 24% said they should try to get back together. The other 16% stated that “she most
have done something wrong for that to happen”. wrote “I don’t think he is capable of doing that,
maybe she has issues and she fights a lot and tried to blame Chris to damage his career”, said
Krystal from Austin Polytech High School. O’Neill responded to this comments: “this shows
how teens see chauvinism and violence as something normal in their lives, to the point where
they victimize the aggressor and blame the victim. They don’t see violence should never be
justified”, said O’Neill. The New York Times did another poll with he Public Commission of

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Health in Boston with 200 teens where 46% said that Rihanna was responsible for what
happened and 52% said they both were to blame, even when Rihanna’s wounds needed medical
treatment.

María Rosario, an 18 year old Hispanic from Harold Washington College is in the ninth grade,
said that she has seen different friends fighting with their boyfriends. “I think is in our culture, is
very common to hear that men should be the one “in charge” and I have heard that frequently,
but that shouldn’t be an excuse for them to be abusive”. María says that her friend of 19 has
been in a violent relationship since she was 14. “My friend blames herself when he hits her. She
makes up excuses and justifies why she was hit. I have tried to convince her to leave him but she
hasn’t, I feel that I can’t do anything else”.

The Department of Justice made an interesting correlation to see who is affected by dating
violence. A study released in 2005 showed how people from 18 to 24 years old where less that
twelve percent of the population in the US between 1998 and 2002; while the dating violence
victims between those ages where four times more, a 42%.

A person that shows unjustified or repetitive bruises, loses interest in things that they liked
before; changes appearance or behavior, becomes reserved and wants to be more time alone;
starts to get secretive; shows anxiety when receiving phone calls or starts taking drugs or
drinking could be a victim of violence, based on Silvermans medical investigation. The
Association of Social Workers of Schools of United States also did a study in two academic
years between 2005 and 2007 that showed that abuse got worst with time. It escalates from
threats to hitting, stalking, rapes and in extreme cases, death.

Looking for answers

Lucely Aramburo a 22 year old known as Lilly disappeared on June 2, 2007. Her best friend
Janet Forte and mother, Lucely Zaldivar, categorize her past boyfriend as abusive. Her mother
explained that since she started dating Christen Pacheco, she wet from using pot and heroin to
constantly using cocaine. Lilly was Pacheco’s girlfriend for two years before they got engaged.
She had a kid with David Lamaso, who desisted from his paternity rights and now lives between

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Boston and Puerto Rico. When Pachecho and Lilly started going out the baby was months old,
and it was her son, Palden, that inspired her to go into rehabilitation. However her mother says
that he insulted her constantly. “She didn’t do anything and every time the violence got worst she
took more drugs. The police can’t accuse nobody if she has been killed because they haven’t
found a body and they don’t know where she could be; I just want to find my daughter”, said
Zaldivar.

“I had problems with the papers that were coming out saying Lilly had disappeared. She was 5
feet tall and a police even said they were looking for a woman of 5’11; that is a big difference”,
said Janet Forte, Aramburo’s best friend and creator of different web portals dedicated to Lilly’s
disappearance. “She was like my little sister. She loved animals, art, music and she even was in
Sábado Gigante’s show when she was a little kid. She had hopes for herself and her son, but
Christen ended that, I don’t doubt that the violence made her worst”, said Forte. Janet and Lilly’s
mom are convinced that Lilly’s disappearance was weird, that the investigation was neglected
because she was an addict and that her domestic violence situation made her depressed and got
her into more drugs.

Pacheco picked her up two days before she disappeared; she was in a rehabilitation center. He
said to the police that she left the house at 2:00am saying she was going to pick up flowers. The
ex marine specialized in engineering systems and artillery said he was devastated after the
accident. Her family saw how he treated her violently and has heard that he has gotten into
trouble because he stills takes drugs. In 2001 he was accused in a domestic violence incident but
the charges were dropped.

“I’ve been going to every activity I can to look for my daughter, hoping she is still alive. I know
she suffered a lot in that relationship, he had threaten her with taking her kid and got away with
it, they fought so much and it was so loud the kid was taken into foster care. The Department of
Children’s and Families took the kid but didn’t investigate anything related to domestic violence
because they just saw her as an addict. When they took away the kid she got depressed and
started consuming more and more drugs. She tried saying something and then backed up and I
thought that maybe we could talk another day. That is why I recommend parents to be very

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aware so that nobody passes what I’ve been through. I can’t accuse Pacheco for her
disappearance, he has been interrogated and there isn’t any proof, but I do know that because of
the violence she used more drugs and got worst. The problem is that I don’t know if she is dead
or alive, because there isn’t a body and without a body nothing can be done. It hasn’t even been
in the local news, and what I want is justice for my daughter and for my grandson” said Zaldivar.
After Lilly’s disappearance Zaldivar requested the custody of Palden.

In October 10, 2009 Zaldivar and Forte brought banners to the Annual Awareness Walk of
Domestic Violence of Miami Dade asking if someone had seen Lilly. Her friend gave flyers that
had Detective Mancha’s number, 305-418-7200, to see if someone wanted to give information.
While Zaldivar hold banners asking for answers, Palden, Lilly’s son who is now two years old,
ran near her mothers pictures, a past domestic violence victim and another one on the list of
people who have disappeared.

The honeymoon phase

Leone Walker developed a social theory in 1970 called the cycle of violence that is still being
used as the model that is repeated in cases of dating and domestic violence. It starts with an
increase of tension till an accident occurs, then it comes reconciliation, commonly known as the
“honeymoon phase” that includes a period of tranquility; till violence starts again. This happens
after an incident or beating; the aggressor sees him/herself in danger of being dumped and
abandoned and promises it won’t happen again. The dependency of the couple creates a sense of
relief where she or he tries to convince him or herself that it won’t happen again and that
everything is going to change as promised; that is why after a violent accident occurs many
couples get “closer”. This does not heal the wounds that have been given and it has been proved
that without therapy, the cycle will be repeated, like the latest study done in the University of
Missouri in March 2009. Rihanna and Chris Brown weren’t the exception.

When the incident happened public opinion was divided between Rihanna and Chris Brown
supporters. Chris went to Virginia with his family and Rihanna went to Barbados. After a week
without any communication with the media, Brown sent a press release saying he was going to
be a better person after all passed, he didn’t mentioned Rihanna or the beating. TMZ, an internet

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portal for celebrity news made public the picture they police took of her for the criminal report.
Officer Rebecca Reyes from the LA Police Department was accused of selling the confidential
picture to the press, something illegal. The photo spoke for itself, Rihanna’s face was disfigured.
After the photo was shown in TMZ’s portal, other media outlets bought it and published and
aired it in hundreds of shows. After that, Rihanna sent a press release saying she was alright but
she wasn’t going to speak about the incident.

Various organizations asked to remove Brown from campaigns that targeted teens, and some
companies did remove him. Before the incident, Brown was chosen to act the movie Bone Deep
that will be released 2010 but his participation was cancelled. After this happened Brown sent a
press release saying he was going to get therapy. The police gathered the evidence and he was
accused of two charges: threat and assault. While the legal case was being discussed some TV
shows and magazines announce that they were together again. Both stayed in P.Diddy’s house
while fans started to write in blogs shocked by the news; others even started the rumor that they
got married and that she was pregnant. The Chicago Sun Times announced they were going to
record an album together and that they were even going to start a tour called Mea Culpa. While
all these rumors were out, Brown wrote into fans pages asking for votes so he could win the
Male Singer of the Year prize in the Nickelodeon Awards. Rihanna’s family sent a press release
saying couldn’t locate Rihanna and ask her to come back home. After weeks of speculation and
rumors, news are out that they have officially broke up. Brown pledges not guilty, while
Rihanna’s father questions his decision.

The news that they were together again made at least 15 professional women’s, psychology and
social workers organizations sent press releases talking about the reconciliation and/or
honeymoon phase while they also started asking how common this issue was. Because this
incident happened: studies that had been done before were no longer anonymous, the necessity
of revising them grew and everybody started to ask for the root of this problem.

In schools and universities

The National Center of Crime Statistics released a report of dating violence cases in colleges.
The study done from 1995 to 2002, found that 32% of college students reported violence by an

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ex partner and 21% from a current one. Also 39-54% of the victims of dating violence stay in a
relationship that is physically abusive. One out of five of those college students reported being
pushed, slapped or punched by its partner. College girls were being stalked (13%) and from that
percentage, 42% were being stalked by a boyfriend or an ex boyfriend. A study done in March of
2009 from the Department of Justice shows that one of every ten high school students have been
hit by their partner.

Juan Carlos Portieles, a 30 year old and resident of Hollywood, Florida; went to a station of the
Miami Dade Police Department with scratches admitting he had killed his girlfriend and that her
body was in his car. Portieles was accused the 12th of October of 2009 for a second degree
murder of Jaclyn Elisse Torrealba (18), a freshman in Florida International University. She last
time she was seen was in the club Space the night before at 2:00am, in a black dress with DJ
Seasunz, the artistic name of Portieles.

Portieles told the police they had been a couple for the last two years. Based on the police report,
she was killed after they started fighting. Detective Rolando de la Osa from Miami Dade Police
authorized the arrest after he confessed the murder. They fought in the car around 6:30am and
Portieles started to hit and bite her before she responded to the attack. In the middle of the fight,
Portieles started shocking her till she stopped moving; she died from asphyxia. While her body
was in the passenger seat he started visiting his friends telling them what had happened; one of
them called the police. When the police got the call they sent an alert looking for a homicide
suspect driving a Toyota Camry, said detective Alvaro Zabaleta, spokesperson of the Miami
Dade Police. After 12 hours of killing Torrealba, Portieles went to the police and confessed
“everything he had done”.

Jaclyn Torrealba went to G. Holmes Braddock High School and started in 2009 to study in
Florida International University. “She wanted to be a lawyer, she was my daughter, mi
sweetheart, my angel”, said Pablo Torrealba, her father, to Jennifer Lebovich a reporter from the
Miami Herald. Torrealba was an honor student. Melissa Saavedra (18), her debate team school
partner said everybody admired her. “She didn’t have any complains in her life. She had
everything that she wanted and it’s very sad that it has ended like this”.

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A study published in 2002 by Tiffanny Zwicker revealed that 86% of girl’s threaten, hurt or have
been insulted would tell a friend about it, while only 7% said they would go to the Police. “The
schools give some information and speak about pregnancies and drugs, but they are almost no
programs or no attention whatsoever that addresses what is a healthy relationship and what is
dating violence”, said Esta Soler president of The Family Violence Prevention Fund. This
organization conducted a study where they showed that 72% of students from eight and nine
grade are already dating, and by the time they go to high school, 54% have been through at least
one violent relationship.

¿Is it a crime?
Brown was charge with two criminal penalties: assault and threat; the 5th of May 2009. On June
22nd he was declared guilty and was sentenced to five years in probation and six months of
community service. The judge Patricia Schnegg also sent him to a year of domestic violence
therapy and prohibited him of getting closer than 100 yards to Rihanna. If they were to
participate in public events, he had to be apart from her by 10 yards, this will be in effect for the
next five years.

The incident occurred in California, which based by a state report done by Break the Cycle, is
one of the best in the protection of dating violence victims. They did a state report analyzing the
laws and how accessible it was to minors that wanted to seek a protection order under the dating
violence law, if they had any. “Only five states got A’s: California, Illinois, Minnesota, New
Hampshire and Oklahoma. Florida and eight states more got B”, said AJ Pearlman, State Policy
Attorney of Break the Cycle, focused on prevention.

More than six organizations against domestic violence thought the sentence was not enough
based on the severity of the beating and the example and precedent he could represented for
youth. On July 29, 2009, Brown published a video on Youtube for Rihanna and his fans, saying
he was sorry while he accepted he hit her for the first time.

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The code 748.046 of the State of Florida establishes that to file an injunction under the dating
violence law three requirements must be met: the relationship must have existed in the past six
months, it should be characterized by sexual affection and intimacy and the interaction and
meetings of the parts should be continuous. There is however something different, dating
violence in comparison to domestic violence is not a crime. The establishments of a dating
violence relationship definition work only to inquire a protection order. When they are cases of
abuse, like Chris Brown and Rihanna, it’s processed as a crime of aggravated assault, threats
and/or homicide. These cases are not identified as dating violence, the only thing we can know
with certainty in statistics is how much protection orders where requested and sometimes the age
of the victim (and they have to be over 18), nothing else.

In 2008, the state of Florida reported 77,849 cases identified as aggravated assault. Of those,
12,305 where committed in Miami Dade County. Based on the crime report 5,230 of those where
arrested. 1,049 cases were done by spouses and people leaving together that were not married. In
the “others” category they are 363 which do not appear as linked to dating violence, or anything
else for that matter, because those cases do not have a criminal penalty. The problem with this is
that the statistics are not reflecting how much crimes are done between couples who do not leave
together, including teens. If they were more: assaults, beatings and threats done by boyfriends or
girlfriends than protection orders that are filed, we wouldn’t know, because they are not being
categorized.

The domestic violence and dating violence law are recent. Forty years ago, civil and feminist
groups created a movement against violence against women. At the end of the nineties it was
brought up to the media’s attention and it started been seen as a public health problem. The most
important document about this issue in the United States, because it made it a federal law, is the
Violence Against Women Act, that was supported by now Vice-President Joe Biden, when he
was a Senator, and was signed the 13th of September of 1994, 15 years ago. It didn’t include
anything about dating violence.

The Act is reapproved in the Senate from time to time, usually with new or added
specifications. It was approved in 2000 without updates and in 2005: stalking, threats and dating

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violence were included. This Act made domestic violence a public policy issue and from that
funds are assigned for prevention programs, studies and shelters for victims. In 2011 it will be re-
approved again. Groups are lobbying so that it includes more rights to foreign domestic violence
victims in the United States.

A dating violence law is not included in all states. On September 24, 2007, two students died in
Oviedo, Florida. Michael Ruschak (22) and Tiffanny Barwick (19), students of the University of
Central Florida were killed by Andrew Allread (21) after he threatened Tiffany, his ex girlfriend,
with murder. Barwick tried to leave him and went to her friend Michael to tell him that Allread
threatened to kill her the next time he saw her. One day Tiffany went back home and saw that her
computer had a picture of her with what appeared to be bullet holes. Michael, her friend, went
with her to the police to get a protection order, but they couldn’t, their wasn’t a law for that.
Police told them they had to see Allread threatening her to do something about it. Tifanny came
back to her house and Allread was there, she called 9-1-1 and shots were heard. Allread shot
Michael who tried to help her while Allread later followed her to the bathroom where she was
hiding and was shot seven times. For many, the fact that they went to the police and nothing was
done was more shocking than the shooting itself. The newspapers told the story and it got to the
hands of someone who did something about it.

“My eyes were teary when I read the news. I could feel the fear that the girl had and felt
deception by the fact that nothing had been done. Here I was, with the power to do laws; I just
felt that I had to do something”, said the 24th district (Marion) Representative Kurt Kelly of
Florida. “I analyzed every legal resource, what existed and what was missing. I worked on the
draft and didn’t contact the families that inspired me at least three weeks after. I brought them to
my office and it was difficult for me to hear them and see them, but they, as well as other
representatives and law enforcement offices, were supportive. I proposed and presented this
inclusion to the law in November 29 of 2007 and I started telling the story of this kids. I called
this the bill 313, the Barwick-Ruschak Act. It was unanimously approved and became an official
inclusion to the law on July 2nd, 2008; 17 months ago”, said Kelly.

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Since then, it was included in the code 748.046 where dating violence is now defined under the
domestic violence law on the process of asking for protection orders. There isn’t an official
average of people asking for protection under the dating violence law in the system. However,
asking for the reports in the Miami Dade Police Department at Biscayne Boulevard, almost 30
cases were reported monthly there in 2008; that is just one Police Department. Dating violence is
kept in silence because they are not filed under that name; they are not labeled if it includes
beating or even death. Based on a study done by the Teenage Research Unlimited between teens
from 13 to 19 years old in 2005, only 33% of teens in an abusive relationship told someone about
it. This study didn’t count college students like Barwick and Ruschak. “I know that this law
won’t stop dating violence, that alone doesn’t work, it needs an community effort and education
about it, but at least if someone like Tifanny needs to seek out for help, something can be done”,
said Representative Kelly.

This problem can create a pattern. A report of May 2009 from the Family Prevention Fund
established that almost 50% of young married couples that were experiencing domestic abuse
saw domestic violence at their own homes while growing up. The teens had higher possibilities
of being or staying at abusive relationship themselves.

Rihanna, in her first exclusive interview with Diana Sawyer in Good Morning America on
November 5th, said that she saw domestic violence at her home. Chris Brown had said before, on
the September 2, 2009 Larry King Live show, that he had grown up seeing how his stepfather
beat up his mother. He went to the show with his mother and his lawyer, Mark Geragos, and
while Larry King narrated details of the incident. Brown said: “I’m amazed because that is not
what I want to be as a person or who I promised I would become”.

They are more than 20 studies than establish that dating couples who are violent can become
marriages with domestic violence. A study done in 2007 by the Department of Justice showed
that more than 960,000 domestic violence accidents occur each year in the United States. This
study establishes that this sum might be only 40% of the cases, because almost 60% go
unreported. Statistics from the FBI show that t at least three women are killed by their partners
each day and that the violence might have started while they were dating.

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Till death do us part
In September 23, 2009 Mesac Damas, 32 years old, was found in Haiti, after he killed her wife
and five children. He said that he wanted to kill himself too but that a spirit told him that if he did
he would not go to heaven. Damas was charged with six first degree murder accusations for his
wife Guerline Damas, 32, and their five kids: Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3;
Morgan, 11 months. The six bodies were found on September 19th after family members called
the police worried because they hadn’t heard from them. The kids and his wife had cut throats
and were stabbed several times. They were married for 15 years, and got married at 18, while
they were still teens.

The FBI in Dominican Republic sent a report saying that Damas was in Haiti, he was taken into
custody and was brought back to Florida. Mesac and Guerline Damas had domestic violence
accidents before, he was arrested in January and was freed after he beat his wife, he was never
taken to court and she didn’t get a protection order; they lived in Naple, Florida. Captain Chris
Roberts of Collier County found the bodies. The Damas family didn’t hear from them and filed a
report as if they were missing. The police got a key from maintenance and found the bodies
when they got in. The man escaped from the country but when he was caught he confessed the
crime; he asked authorities if they could kill him so he could be buried with his family. It wasn’t
the first time he had been violent, but he only blames the devil for the murder of his wife and
kids.

Why now?
There is no doubt that the Rihanna and Chris Brown incident brought media’s attention to dating
violence and made numbers and organizations more visible. In the news alert system of google,
which gathers news that are published in the Internet for the specific topic you request an alert
of, around ten news were reported monthly about dating violence. After the Chris Brown and
Rihanna incident, between April and November 2009, an average of fifteen news were published
daily related to dating violence.

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The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence operates as the headquarter organization for
domestic violence services in the United States of others Coalitions that are divided by state. The
Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence has only three programs dedicated to prevention,
based on social concepts of gender roles, but they do not have a particular program dedicated to
dating violence prevention only. The only program that includes teen dating violence is
dedicated to help victims who are now homeless; this however focuses on intervention and not
prevention.

When Representative Kurt Kelly was asked if he received help from the coalition he said “yes,
after I proposed the law they were enthusiastic and helped through the process”. The help came
after the proposal was done, they didn’t formulate it, and to this day the coalition is looking to
include proposals from others on dating violence, while their main focus is domestic violence.
“I’m happy that I was part of a new but necessary project”, said Kelly. There are only two
national organizations that were created with dating violence as their main focus before the
celebrities’ incident, Break the Cycle and End the Abuse, and the biggest sponsor of this cause is
Liz Claiborne which has given more than 11 million dollars to projects that target dating
violence. The funds have been used to create a national hotline for teens and a new curriculum
for schools called End the Violence, created by Break the Cycle.

They are some regional organizations that try to address prevention and the majorities were
founded by parents of a victim or by survivors. Teens Experiencing Abusive Relationships,
better known as TEAR, is an organization that was created by six victims of dating violence in
New Jersey. “What we wanted to do was a network of victims, a support group and from that we
have gone to schools. We have been called more after the incident of Brown and Rihanna, and
the saddest thing is that when we talk about it with kids some justify the violence and blame her
for everything. That’s when we see that our work as volunteers is important; we need to tell teens
that there is no justification for abuse. On the other hand, it’s sad that it had to happen to
someone famous to get that much media attention and to create a national impact because like
me they have been thousands that have had the same or worst beatings than she got, also a lot of
teens have been killed,” said Carrie Speicer, President of TEAR. Another local organization in
New Mexico was founded by the parents of Jennifer Ann who was killed by her boyfriend on

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February 15, 2006. Her father created a non-profit organization with her daughters name to talk
about teen dating violence. They have material on the Internet, they don’t give conferences but
they have sent out thousands of postcards that define dating violence and create awareness
nationally by mail.

In Florida there is no organization entirely dedicated to dating violence. The Florida Coalition
Against Domestic Violence was created in 1977 by a network of 14 domestic violence shelters
where victims are referred usually by the police when they life’s are at risk. It’s important to
point out that based on Police reports from 2002-2008 around 89% of victims were women. The
other 11% percent were men, which were abused or were hurt in a domestic violence dispute,
like cases where a teen interferes in a beating that is being held in the house. The Coalition has a
hotline to help victims, 1-800-500-1119, and they manage and regulate the shelters of the State,
which in Florida are a total of 42.

Miami Dade is the biggest county of Florida with a population (2008) of 2,477,289. They are
only two shelters in three locations: Safe Space, North and South, which are operated by the
county and Victim Response, Inc./ The Lodge a non-profit shelter. Safe Sapce North has 63
beds, and Safe Space South has 24. As a requirement to get in, the victim must have suffered a
previous incident and should be threatened at the moment, she can stay as long as six weeks and
they only take in women. In The Lodge they are 40 beds and 10 cribs, they operate through
donations and they get a small portion of the food and beverage taxes. Victims could stay up to
45 days but they make arrangements for a longer stay if necessary, they take women with
children no matter how small, men and they have opened up their services for people with
disabilities and to the lesbian, gay and transgender community as well. In general, of a
population of 2.5 million in the county, which had 10,837 cases for arrest in 2008 alone for
domestic violence, there is a total of 127 beds and 10 cribs, an none of them, unless they come
with a judiciary order that recognizes a special case where there is a danger similar to an adult,
takes victims of dating violence.

The shelter that has done more about dating violence is The Lodge, which has posters about
dating violence to create awareness and has a program dedicated to analyze the media and

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violence in gender, where they discuss what healthy relationships are. They didn’t have a
program that addresses dating violence specifically but they requested funds to start a local
prevention team on this issue based on research. Their proposal was accepted and they received a
grant that will start doing research about dating violence in the community and two schools in
the county, José de Diego Middle School and Booker T. Washington High School; they will start
in 2010. “We have seen a change in perspective, prevention is been seen as a priority now,
something that before was note even mentioned. If someone asks for funds to treat women who
are victims and others ask for money to start a program that tackles the problem from the
beginning, the prevention program is seen as a good investment. The Chris Brown and Rihanna
dating violence case can be seen as positive when analyzing the effects it had after. People are
more aware of unhealthy relationships sooner now, especially in Miami and Florida”, said
Gheisha Rosario, Director of Social Change in Victim Response and the writer of the awarded
grant.

Economy
In January 31, 2008 Miami Dade County cut 67% of the budget assigned for services related to
domestic violence. Because of this, people were fired and domestic violence became a public
health priority on the presidential and local campaigns to ask for more funds for these services.
“Domestic violence is about power and control and when aggressors start losing control over
things violence increases, less economic control equals also more dependency of the victims”,
said Jennifer Benton, president of the Counseling and Treatment Center of Abuse.

Dating violence and domestic violence not only causes psychological and physical damages, it’s
also very expensive. Every year medical costs of accidents causes by spouses or partners cost
from three to five billion dollars, based on the study Domestic Violence and Helath Care from
2001. The Bureau of National Affairs reports also a loss of 100 million dollars in salaries, sick
leave, days of absence and lack of productivity at work due to this problem. According to the
American Medical Association, every year domestic violence causes 100,000 days of
hospitalizations, almost 30,000 cases seen in emergency rooms and 45,000 doctor visits. What is
worst, many health care plans do not cover women, because doctors appointments are so

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frequent and repeated, that they count domestic violence as a pre-existing condition; but women
issues were considered in the Rescue Plan.

President Obama in his presidential campaign mentioned he would give attention to gender
issues, including domestic violence. Joe Biden, author of the Violence Against Women Act in
1994 and now Vice-President, mentioned that he would include in the “rescue” money, funds for
domestic violence shelters. In September 29, 2009 the rescue plan was approved and it included
$225 millions to domestic violence and prevention programs and $100 million for the victims.

Many organizations, after the Rihanna and Chris Brown incident, wrote grant proposals asking
money to start new programs related to prevention of domestic violence. Victim Response’s
proposal; one out of three shelters in Miami Dade county, was approved. “Prevention is to
address things before they occur. In dating violence we have to learn what is going on out there
to develop a plan after that will address the issues with the particular needs of youth, now that we
are discovering that this is a national problem and it’s really spread out”, said Annie Lyles in
charge of the Prevention Institute of Minnesota.

The money that will go to Florida has not been determined yet, but $140.38 million dollars are
going to be assigned to the state programs that work with domestic and dating violence, stalking
and rape based on the report done by the White House. The report says that it will be divided
equally (around 2.8 million to each state) but that if new programs are developed in regions were
crimes have increased they will be taken into consideration. Thirty percent of that money would
go to service providers, 25% for law enforcement officials and 5% to court; 15% of will be left
to the states criteria on how they will be better used. There is 43 million for transitional housing;
21 millions for native governments to create programs against domestic violence in Native-
American tribal communities; 8.7 millions to state coalitions; 8.6 for continued education and
training and 2.8 million for domestic violence and rape groups in tribes. The money that is for
the victims is assigned as a financial assistance to ensure the victims financial independence
while she/he get’s a job and can sustain her/himself. Because this money was assigned, different
organizations have been given the opportunity to do proposals where they request that new or
existing programs are funded; including prevention programs which were encouraged this year.

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Getting out
Mr. Woodmass, father of a dead victim and psychologist said: “they aren’t many studies
about dating violence because it’s difficult to recruit teens for investigative projects. Getting
testimonies is difficult too because a victim could feel that they are threatened, for security they
would prefer doing it anonymously and for that, focal groups are difficult to promote because
they expose them to what the other people say or disclose about them. The ex-boyfriends are also
around; unless they are in jail they could be in danger if they say something that would piss them
off. They can say that they love you, but in the end is how you show it. Slapping or insulting will
never be the same as a hug or a kiss.”

In the December edition of the magazine Glamour, Rihanna talked about the incident and how it
had affected her. After this interview she got out in TV and said: “I want to help because I didn’t
know how much effect I have on my fans”. Chris Brown said on November 6 that even though
he respects Rihanna’s decision to talk about what happened, he would prefer that it would be
taken as a private matter. When they asked her if she had a message for victims she responded:
“Domestic violence is a big secret. Children don’t just go out there saying that their parents fight.
Young girls can’t say to their parents that they are hitting her. You don’t let your neighbor know
that you fight. Is one of those things that we women hide, because it’s shameful. The positive
outcome of my case is that people could learn about it. I want to talk as much as possible as a
young woman, because I feel like I represent a voice that is not being listened. Now I can talk for
those who are silent”, concluded Rihanna.

For more information or if you want to report dating violence called the national hotline
dedicated to dating violence in the United States at: 1-866-331-9474, they also offer their
services in Spanish and in determined hours they have assistants by chat in their website
www.loveisrespect.org.

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