MN Coalition for Battered Women release 2009 Femicide Report
Posted on 12. Feb, 2010 by Release in Public Safety, State Legislature
ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women released the 2009 Femicide report at the State Office Building this week at a press conference, detailing the violent domestic and child abuse that occurred in 2009. The report documented that 28 women and children were murdered in 2009 as a result of domestic violence and child abuse.
In order to address findings of the study, the Minnesota Coalition of Battered Women are calling on the Legislature to pass several reforms. State Rep. Paul Gardner, Shoreview, is among a bipartisan group of legislators authoring legislation to help strengthen laws to preserve the safety of victims of domestic abuse.
“Law enforcement, women’s organizations, prosecutors, and judges do an excellent job coordinating their efforts to prevent domestic abuse, but these findings show us there is more we can do to keep victims of domestic abuse safe,” said Gardner. “The tragic reality of many violent domestic abuse cases is that they were preventable,”
Gardner is authoring a bill that would allow courts to establish a pilot project to use electronic monitoring devices to protect a victim’s safety. According to the bill, an advisory group of representatives from law enforcement, prosecutors, court administrators, judges, and women’s organizations could develop standards for the use of electronic monitoring devices to track and evaluate their effectiveness in preventing domestic abuse.
According to the 2009 Femicide Report, of 12 murders where the offender was an intimate partner of the victim, 67% occurred after the victim had left the relationship. In half of the murders, the perpetrator was known to have abused the victim prior to the murder. In addition, studies have shown separation may actually increase the incidence in violence. Gardner said electronic monitoring may help law enforcement respond quickly if a known offender returns to attack a victim.
“When a violent offender breaks a restraining order to attack a victim, response time for law enforcement is critical,” said Gardner. “Electronic devices that track violent offenders may help law enforcement react faster.”
The Minnesota Coalition of Battered Women is pursuing several other legislative items this session, including efforts to strengthen the orders for protection law, clarify the stalking statute, increase the tools available to the criminal court to use for bail setting and pretrial release, and protecting domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy program information.
For more information on the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women 2009 Femicide Report visit www.mcbw.org.
News Release by the Office of Rep Paul Gardner
