It is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, calling attention to an issue affecting up to 12 million men, women and children in the nation every year.

In Nebraska, almost 34% of women and 28% of men experience some form of intimate-partner violence or stalking over their lifetime.

Lee Heflebower, domestic violence and economic justice specialist for the Nebraska Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, said rates of domestic abuse and sexual violence in Nebraska have changed very little over the past decade. One exception was during the COVID lockdown, when there was a spike. Although people tend to equate domestic abuse with physical abuse, Heflebower pointed out it can take a variety of forms.

"It could also include emotional abuse, financial abuse, technological abuse; we see that a lot now, with folks using tech to stalk people," Heflebower observed. "It's all to maintain power and control over their intimate partner."

During 2022, 24-hour crisis lines at domestic-violence programs across the state received 36,000 calls, and Heflebower noted direct support was provided to nearly 12,000 survivors, of which 94% were women and children. The coalition's 20 programs and four tribal programs cover every county in the state. The 24-hour National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

Heflebower emphasized when survivors decide to leave an abusive situation, they often lose both their housing and their financial support, adding economic abuse is one of the ways abusers try to keep their partner from leaving.

"They might interfere with or control a survivor's employment, might interfere with their ability to establish good credit," Heflebower outlined. "For example, (they) might take out loans with the survivor's name, and the survivor's not aware of that."

Survivors may struggle to regain financial stability, Heflebower stressed, and she pointed out domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness.

Heflebower reported rates are similar in urban and rural Nebraska, but leaving an abusive relationship in a rural community can present the extra challenge of having to relocate to a different town. She encouraged even people who are not sure if what they are experiencing is abuse to call, even if they are not ready to leave their situation.

"They can always reach out to one of the network programs," Heflebower advised. "Talk to somebody, get some assistance, talk about safety planning, or attend a support group. There's also programs available for their children. Our programs do a great job of getting survivors connected with anything that can help meet their needs."

Domestic-violence prevention organizations in Minnesota continue to express relief over a U.S. Supreme Court ruling dealing with abusers having access to firearms.

In an 8-to-1 decision released Friday, the court upheld a federal law barring people subject to a domestic-violence restraining order from owning guns. Violence Free Minnesota reported from 1989 to 2018, guns were used in nearly half of cases around the state in which adult women were killed by an intimate partner.

Connie Moore is executive director of Alexandra House, a service organization for survivors in the Twin Cities. She noted weapons are also used to intimidate a partner who is planning to escape a dangerous situation.

"Many victim/survivors have reported about a gun being pointed at them and threatening, 'I'll kill you if you leave me,'" Moore observed.

Moore noted there are still challenges in ensuring a gun's removal, even when a restraining order has been issued. Minnesota does have a law covering the removal process but support groups said there is uneven enforcement around the country. This decision comes two years after the Supreme Court greatly expanded gun rights.

Moore pointed out the federal law not only protects survivors and their children, but also first responders in 911 calls stemming from domestic violence.

"We know that domestic calls for law enforcement are one of the most dangerous calls that they go on," Moore emphasized.

She pointed to the three first responders killed earlier this year in a call in the suburb of Burnsville. The tragedy led to a change in state law concerning straw purchases of guns.

Meanwhile, survivor groups also press for reforms when it comes to obtaining a protection order, noting there are a range of barriers just getting that step taken care of.


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Ohio advocates said the Biden administration's new Title IX regulations better protect victims of sexual assault, even as a group of states temporarily blocked the new rules, following controversy over expanded protections for transgender and LGBTQ+ students.

The federal civil rights legislation has continually morphed since it was created in the 1970s to ban discrimination in education programs and student activities receiving federal funding.

Emily Gemar, director of public policy for the Ohio Alliance to End Violence, said Ohioans should feel encouraged the latest batch of rules helps create a safer and more supportive environment for students who've experienced sexual assault.

"One of the changes that the Department of Education has included in its final regulations: They've reinstated that investigations have to be prompt, which was something that the Trump administration had removed," Gemar pointed out.

The final rules clarify the steps a school must take to protect students and employees from discrimination based on pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics. It also protects against retaliation for people who exercise their Title IX rights. The new rules go into effect on August 1.

Gemar added communities can play a role in creating a violence-free environment for young people.

"We should all want at the end of the day is to send not only just our young schoolchildren, but our young adults into environments that have these protective measures in place," Gemar asserted. "To appropriately address sex-based harassment and other forms of sex-based discrimination."

Studies have found approximately 26% of all female undergraduate students and nearly 7% of all male undergraduate students have experienced sexual assault, according to the American Association of University Women.


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Four years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are still studying its effects on society.

A new report focusing on domestic violence during the pandemic revealed social backgrounds and life circumstances played a significant role in how survivors view their abuse.

Paige Sweet, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan and author of the report, conducted interviews with 50 pandemic-era abuse survivors in Michigan, most of whom were struggling financially. Sweet said the small group who experienced it as a novel period of violence were likely to be middle-class.

"These survivors often didn't have to rely on things like domestic violence shelters," Sweet pointed out. "They often had good social networks, so, like, someone could go stay at their parent's house, for example, when the violence increased in the relationship."

At the height of the pandemic, domestic violence care providers reported an increased danger for anyone experiencing abuse, due to more time spent at home with their abusers.

Sweet pointed out survivors who live in marginalized communities experienced abuse during the pandemic as just another social crisis.

"They were sort of used to thinking of their relationship as something that was regularly disrupted by things like arrests, by things like homelessness," Sweet outlined. "Family and friends having to come stay in their house."

Sweet added many middle-class survivors were willing to seek therapy to help stay in their relationships and they were not "deathly afraid" of their abusers. But those living in poverty often were forced back into abusive situations because they depend on their abusers financially.

The research showed domestic abuse is often part of many other social problems knitted into survivors' lives, and Sweet argued there must be resources in place to address the issues.

"To stabilize their families, to stabilize their housing situations, to have access to good jobs, good food," Sweet emphasized. "In order for them to stay away from abusive relationships, they have to have those things secured."

She added policies should focus not just on treating or responding to abuse but on building up families to help prevent it.


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