Suicide and DV

**Percy** · #1 14th-October-2008

Quote:

http://mensnewsdaily.com/2008/10/10/domestic-violence-homicides-and-suicides/

Richard L. Davis

Domestic Violence Homicides and Suicides
2008-10-10 at 6:03 am · Filed under Activism, Analysis, Domestic Violence, Family, Vox Populi
I trust that everything happens for a reason, even when we are not wise enough to see it. - Oprah Winfrey

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. Male related domestic violence deaths seem to be something that most domestic violence organizations, public policy makers, researchers and the media are not aware of or concerned about.

A recent report by the CDC “Surveillance for Violent Deaths — National Violent Death Reporting System, 16 States, 2005 (SVD), documents that approximately 30% of suicides are precipitated by problems between intimate partners that lead to fatalities.

The SVD documents a domestic violence tragedy that remains largely unexplored. The SVD notes, that of the 16 reporting states, problems between intimate partners precipitated 2,301 of the male suicides and 439 of the female suicides.

Twice as many females as males attempt suicide but the rate of completed suicides in the SVD report was nearly 4 times greater for males than females. (P. Just to make that clear, 8 times as many men die from successful suicide attemps as women) The SVD and many other fatality review studies suggest that most people who commit suicide are clinically depressed, have other mental health issues, face criminal or civil justice interventions, suffer from financial problems or are confronted with other life altering stressors that seem to be created by one or both partners.

In the 1990’s approximately 30,000 people each year took their own lives. The extrapolation of that SVD data seems to suggest that it is possible that each year there may be approximately 6,750 male and 2,250 female suicides that are precipitated by problems between intimate partners.

These suicidal deaths are domestic violence related deaths and their numbers far exceed the number of domestic violence homicides.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) report, “Reviewing Domestic Violence Deaths” (RDVD), appears in the November 2003 issue of the NIJ Journal. This NIJ report notes that fatality reviews might lead to changes that could deter some domestic violence related deaths.

The author of the RDVD notes that a significant number of women may commit suicide because of domestic violence. However, the RDVD did not once mention a single male domestic violence related death either by homicide or suicide. Also, the author suggests proactive interventions only for females and simply ignores the domestic violence related deaths of men.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence operates as the “official voice” for domestic violence organizations. The NCADV mission statement publicly proclaims that it is only concerned with the abuse of women and children, not men. Interveners, public policy makers and researchers seem little concerned about male related domestic violence deaths, but the data indicates that they should be.

Approximately one of every three domestic violence suicides includes an intimate partner related homicide and the majority of those victims (3 of every 4) are female. Hence, positive education and resources for all potential offenders may save lives regardless of gender.

The fatality review data documents that more males than females are homicide offenders (9 out of 10). However, interveners and public policy makers need to recognize that if they provide resources and screening for the risk factors of suicide in intimate partner relationships for both males and females, some of these homicide/suicides might be deterred and more insight gained.

Researchers and social scientists must be willing to explore multiple hypotheses and theories rather than being confined to contemporary “one-solutions-fits-all” Duluth styled interventions.. Further, interveners should recognize that there is no empirical evidence-based data that documents a “bright line” that separates child, sibling, spousal, intimate partner, and elder abuse from violence against adult heterosexual women. Domestic violence interventions and programs must begin at the beginning, not the end.

Worldwide, nations have a history of setting the rights of one group of people against the rights of another group. Contemporarily, as their websites document, most domestic violence organizations continue to minimize, marginalize or ignore male domestic violence related deaths.

The vast majority of domestic violence interveners understand that far more males need to become involved in education and prevention programs. Perhaps when interveners, public policy makers and researchers acknowledge that more men than women suffer from domestic violence related deaths, more males will become involved.

Domestic violence interveners, public policy makers and researchers need to understand that “my group is more important than your group” interventional efforts are Mephistophelian in nature. They were wrong during the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries and remain so in this 21st century.

Richard L. Davis
President, www.Familynonviolence.org
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I trust that everything happens for a reason, even when we are not wise enough to see it. - Oprah Winfrey.

But those that are wiser than Oprah the friggin' one-eyed Oracle can see that the reason here is MISANDRY.

Marx · #2 14th-October-2008

Percy, I'm glad you made that additional note about there being 8x completed. I had missed it. The wording of it gave me the impression it was 4x, then I saw your note and thought "No, it says - clearly - 4x...", so I re-read it... but sure enough, you're right!

shaazam · #3 14th-October-2008

I have the view that male deaths in DV are seen by feminit courts merely as collateral damage and I do believe that these courts are loath to fit wimmin with anything like a fitting punishmnet for the crime - the victims are mere males right !!!!

this forum has cited a multitude of examples of such cases

**Incognito** · #4 14th-October-2008

10 Murder-Suicides Occur Each Week in America New Violence Policy Center Study Reveals

May 9, 2006

WASHINGTON, May 2 -- More than 10 murder-suicides, almost all by gun, occur each week in the United States, according to American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States, (http://www.vpc.org/studies/amroul2006.pdf) a new study by the Violence Policy Center (VPC).

The study used a national news clipping service and Internet survey tools to collect incidents nationwide from January 1, 2005, through June 30, 2005, and is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on murder-suicide. During this six-month period, at least 591 Americans died in 264 murder-suicides, and almost all murder-suicides (92 percent) involved a firearm. Using these figures, the VPC estimates that nearly 1,200 Americans die each year in murder-suicides. Additional study findings include --

* Six states had more than 10 murder-suicides in the six-month study
period: Pennsylvania (18); Texas (18); California (17); Florida (15);
North Carolina (14); and, Tennessee (11).

* Ninety-four percent of the offenders in murder-suicides were male.

* Seventy-four percent of all murder-suicides involved an intimate partner
(spouse, common-law spouse, ex-spouse, or boyfriend/girlfriend). Of
these, 96 percent were females killed by their intimate partners.

* Most murder-suicides with three or more victims involved a "family
annihilator" -- a subcategory of intimate partner murder-suicide.
Family annihilators are murderers who kill not only their
wives/girlfriends and children, but often other family members as well,
before killing themselves.

* Forty-seven children and teens under the age of 18 were murdered in
murder-suicides.

* Most murderers in murder-suicides are older than their victims.

* Seventy-five percent of murder-suicides occurred in the home.
VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, "Murder-suicide wreaks havoc on hundreds of American families each year. Much more needs to be done to understand and prevent murder-suicide. One key aspect of prevention is reducing access to firearms, by far the weapon of choice in murder-suicide."

The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational organization working for a safer America through research, analysis, education, and advocacy. To obtain a copy of the study, visit the VPC's web site at http://www.vpc.org.
www.vpc.org.

**Incognito** · #5 14th-October-2008

I think that reducing access to firearms is not the key to preventing suicide or murder-suicides. Increasing access to resources that can help a person who is depressed, increasing resources to those with financial stress and domestic issues, is.

I think that when people kill themselves they truly believe they have no other options, whether that's true or false. Men don't have as many options for help and resources as women do. Men are treated unfairly in family court situations. Men also hesitate to seek help when they are depressed, because of the misandry that exists and the biases that exist against them- they don't trust what few resources are available. They feel trapped.

**Incognito** · #6 14th-October-2008

It's perhaps easier to feel compassion for a man (or woman) who takes his/her own life, but much harder to feel compassion for a man (or woman) who takes others' lives (particularly their own children's lives) before committing suicide.

And how can we intervene when so many commit suicide without giving much (if any) warning of their intentions?

Eliminating misandry is a good way to combat this. However, in my book, misandry is not a valid excuse for murder.

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