By Susan Tompor
Detroit Free Press

In domestic abuse situations, abusers use money or finances to prevent victims from leaving. Advocates of domestic violence victims are concerned that the difficult economy could lead to more cases of financial abuse — especially if the abuser is out of work, too.

Economic abuse can involve an abuser preventing a person from getting a job. Or cashing the family’s income tax refund check and spending the money before paying bills. Or degrading someone by saying he or she is too stupid to manage a checking account. Or harassing a partner at work via phone calls, text messages or e-mail so frequently that the person loses a job.

Sun-sentinel.com 

Harley Party assists: Assault victims can call 911 with free phone

By Janelle Stecklein
janelle.stecklein@amarillo.com

Thousands of cell phones of all shapes and sizes have been donated to Amarillo’s Family Support Services the past three years.

Each phone is sent to a processing plant where all the information stored inside is erased and the phones can be recycled.

The organization sells some of the refurbished phones and stockpiles others. They don’t come with a service plan and are only capable of calling 911.

Amarillo.com

By Pete Kendall/reporter@trcle.com

The statistics are revealing as well as damning.

According to studies by the U.S. Department of Justice, women are five to eight times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner, and crimes are committed by men against women in 92 percent of all domestic violence incidents.

And the younger the age group, the greater the problem.

According to a teen relationship abuse fact sheet issued by the city of New York, almost 80 percent of young women physically abused in relationships continue to date their abusers, and 40 percent of teenage girls report knowing someone their age who has been physically abused by a boyfriend.

Cleburnetimesreview.com

Photo of: Alice Morrin (Nick Caito Fox 61)

By DAVID OWENS and CHRISTINE DEMPSEY The Hartford Courant

VERNON – In the final moments of her life, Alice Morrin text-messaged a friend, begging him to call Vernon police. Her husband James Morrin was armed with a shotgun and a large knife, she wrote, and she was frantic about the safety of her daughters.

“Help, call Vernon police,” she wrote in a text message sent at 11:50 p.m. Sunday. “Jim just dragged me in our room put loaded gun to my head. Hurry please he would hear me on the phone. I talked him down.” The friend, who requested anonymity, immediately called police.

Fox61.com

Domestic violence is a serious law enforcement and public health problem affecting as many as one in four women in this country. Yet Washington has devoted too little attention to reducing domestic violence and sexual assaults generally. We welcome President Obama’s decision to create a new post, White House adviser on violence against women, and his appointment of a seasoned advocate for victims to fill it.

Lynn Rosenthal is a former executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. She will report to Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, whose keen interest in the issue dates from his days in the Senate and his key role in enacting the 1994 Violence Against Women Act.

Nytimes.com

By: M.K. Jones

It can happen to anyone. We find ourselves in a relationship in which we’re continually invalidated. The verbal abuse is escalating and we begin to fear our abuser. Perhaps physical abuse has already begun. Our first responsibility is to protect ourselves, and if applicable, our children.

Once you become aware of abuse and realize its potential for harm, it could be time to think about a way out of the relationship. Try to remember that once you leave, you won’t be alone. Sources of support and help will understand that this is one of the most difficult things you could ever do and they will be ready to assist you.

Examiner.com