Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence happens a lot. It may just be small shove or a full out assault, it's wrong.

When I worked for the District Attorney's Office in San Diego County many years ago, I recall working on cases in which domestic violence occurred. It's not often that these cases go to trial either. Why? Because often the person who has been victimized won't press charges against the person who did the abuse! Where we might think it is the natural progression to move forward to stop the abuse, surprisingly, many do not do it.

I once went to take photographs of a domestic violence victim as ordered by the Deputy DA assigned to the case. The DA investigator and I arrived at the hospital and I took all the supporting photographs needed for the case. The victim was telling the investigator about what had happened. She was beaten by her husband. It wasn't pretty.

After we were done and we were heading down in the elevator, the investigator said to me, "Thanks for taking the pictures. But you do realize it will probably never be used, don't you?" I asked why. "Well, the case most likely won't even make it to court because the victim is probably going to go back to her husband and drop the charges."

I couldn't believe it! After taking such a brutal beating, the victim would drop the charges? But it was true. It never made it to court. The investigator knew that often, the victim will go back to the abusive relationship. It's just hard to comprehend.

However, in some cases, the victim does go forward and presses charges. Some also will divorce the abuser too. To me, that makes the most sense. Don't be afraid. If you are being abused... do something about it. Don't wait until it's too late.