In The News

Jane Doe Inc. releases first domestic violence review
Review tells stories of victims from 2003
Divya Bahl
Posted: 12/6/06

After examining cases and statistics over the past year, Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, released its first annual review of domestic violence-related homicides in 2003 through an in-depth report of the 24 people who died from it that year.

"Domestic violence homicides represent just the tip of the iceberg regarding morality and morbidity resulting from domestic violence," said Mary Lauby, Jane Doe Inc.'s executive director and co-author of the study, at the State House yesterday. "We hope to raise awareness among individuals, communities, systems and policy makers across the Commonwealth about the lethal and often predictable consequences of domestic violence and to improve our response to domestic violence and prevention of homicides."

According to a Jane Doe, Inc. informational pamphlet, at least three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States each day.

Harvard Law School lecturer Diane Rosenfeld said the number of women dying from domestic violence should not be so high because it is one of the most predictable types of crime.

"These acts of domestic homicide are so predictable that they are preventable . . . when a woman is killed, the number one suspect is her husband or boyfriend," she said. "Shouldn't the husband or boyfriend be the [last suspect]?"

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley told the story of Roslindale resident Amelia Gomez to highlight that most domestic homicides occur in the home -- the place people should feel the safest.

"I remember the sheer brutality of that murder, in broad daylight in front of many witnesses," he said, telling of how Gomez was stabbed to death on March 25, 2003 by her estranged boyfriend Cesar Rios Velez in the parking lot of her apartment building.

Conley said Gomez had told her friends she planned to get a restraining order against Velez but was too afraid to leave her home.

On March 25, Gomez went to her car and found Velez waiting for her in the parking lot. After chasing her around the car, the man caught Gomez and stabbed her repeatedly before slitting her throat.

Mary Gilfus, an associate professor at the Simmons College School of Social Work, said many cases like this are preventable, and with the right support for victims, abusers can be caught before killing.

She also said the state has the responsibility of correctly determining the definition of 'homicide,' because a homicide in self-defense is not the same as an intended homicide.

"Ninety percent of the women I met in prison who killed their partner did it in self defense," she said. "[They all said they] only did it because they didn't know what else to do to keep themselves from being killed or hurt again."

Gilfus said in Massachusetts, 43,000 children are exposed to reported acts of abuse and violence between family members each year.

"Domestic abuse harms the children, mothers and fathers, siblings and neighbors of the victims -- many more than just the one individual are affected by domestic abuse," Gilfus said.

"[Every person] deserves to live free from sexual assault and domestic violence," she added.

According to the Jane Doe, Inc. pamphlet, the number of domestic violence homicides has declined [nationwide] since 2003. [However, 30 people have died so far in 2006, 6 more than in 2003.]
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