By Andrea Hall

I would like to take this opportunity to thank David Behling for his column that appeared in the January 13, 2004, edition of the Albert Lea Tribune column &uot;What kind of love leads to curses and beatings?&uot;

Mr. Behling wrote the column in response to an article about a local man who had seriously injured his wife last week.

It was unusual that there was a story written about that individual and the violence upon his spouse.

Unfortunately, domestic violence is not at all unusual, it is not an isolated incident. It occurs it different forms, in different degrees, on a daily basis in this community.

By no means do I mean to downplay this incident, on the contrary, it was a violent, brutal attack on an individual this man claims to love.

However, it is important for everyone who read the article and was horrified by the violence, to realize how common place it is.

The article described what had happened to this victim, how she had been beat severly over several days, was denied medical help when requested, and then thrown out into the cold without a jacket, in a fairly isolated area of the county.

It is important to realize what the consequences for this violent crime may be.

The defendant has been charged with a 3rd degree assault, which is a felony and could possibly include prison time, if convicted.

However, had there not been &uot;substantial bodily harm&uot; as defined by Minnesota Statute, this most likely would have been a misdemeanor offense (which means no more than 90 days in jail, no more than $1000 fine.)

IF there was no substantial bodily harm, the punitive consequence of this offense could have been 90 days in jail, only 60 days that would actually be served because of good time.

Sixty days in jail for such a violent, brutal crime. And that is not unusual. If this occurred at the hands of a stranger, would the community not respond to this as a &uot;senseless crime&uot; and want justice?

Of course jail is not always the answer.

A first conviction for Domestic Assault is a misdemeanor offense. Jail and the fine are not always fully imposed, and there are other conditions including education on Domestic Abuse if placed on probation.

This is an appropriate sentence in the majority of the domestic assaults that occur.

It is not appropriate for someone who repeatedly commits acts of domestic violence.

It is not appropriate for someone who commits a more serious act of violence, and is then charged with that crime, but not convicted of it.

Domestic Abuse needs to be dealt with aggressively in the criminal justice system AND the community, if there is going to be changes.

I am a probation officer in Freeborn County. While writing this, I referred back to the last 10 reports I have written (in the past month) involving domestic violence offenses. In six out of 10 of those incidents, children were present at the time of the incident.

Domestic Violence affects the whole family. It affects the community. Children are affected by what they witness at home. Sometimes how they react is hidden in other behaviors. We see aggressive children at school, kids who think the way to solve a problem is with violence. Kids who act out in other ways, such as vandalism, using drugs and alcohol, running away and failing out of school.

Domestic Violence affects the community. The community in turn will be the victims of the vandalism. The community will be affected by children who never graduated from high school and can’t find a job as an adult. The community will be affected by children who grow up to be abusers themselves, with repeated calls to police, and filling the Court system. The community will be affected by the children who become adults addicted to drugs and alcohol who need chemical dependency treatment, but have no way to pay for it.

I am not trying to oversimplify the problems that occur within the community.

I am not blaming domestic violence for all the issues in the world.

But domestic violence is often a contributing factor to many problems, and is often overlooked.

As Mr. Behling says, the &uot;warning signs for domestic abuse really aren’t all that invisible.&uot;

People have to choose to see these things. The community has to choose to make a difference, to be involved, to see what domestic violence is and what it does.

The community is not just the courts, the social workers, the foster parents, the crisis centers, the police and sheriffs office.

Someone will say, &uot;but they go back.&uot;

Somebody will say, &uot;they ask for it.&uot;

Someone will say, &uot;they choose to stay.&uot; Does the victim always have a choice?

Do the children?

One of the most common questions posed when addressing domestic violence is

&uot;Why do they stay?&uot;

But how often have you ever heard someone say &uot;Why did they use violence?&uot;

(Andrea Hall is a Freeborn County Court Services Officer.)