Survivors and advocates shed light on how far the state has come and the work yet to be done.
This is the first in a series of articles the Alaska Beacon is publishing with the support of the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2023 Domestic Violence Impact Fund. The stories that follow will explore the reach of Alaska’s funding to address domestic violence and show some areas where it succeeds, as well as where it falls short.
One night, after the baby was born, T.’s husband tried to stop her when she attempted to leave the house. She said they both ended up on the ground, but she had the baby in her arms. “I’m a big girl; I can defend myself,” she said. “But he wasn’t being mindful of the baby.” She left, for three months. But she said he convinced her to come back — this was her husband, and the father of her child. Then, she got pregnant again.
The state puts millions of dollars towards the response to domestic violence each year. In the 12 months that ended in June, the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault had roughly $32 million to fight domestic violence — more than half of it came from the state. A lack of security often will send people who have experienced domestic violence back to abusive situations, she said. That leaves the state and various nonprofits to address the cascading consequences of abuse: physical and mental health effects, housing needs, and police and court involvement.
Emotional and legal ties can keep unhealthy couples together until a dynamic that advocates call “power and control” escalates to the point of crisis. This can pose particular problems in much of Alaska, where the vast, often roadless geography makes access to safety, services and even law enforcement difficult or impossible.Domestic violence usually originates from other violence. Perpetrators are often people who have been abused themselves.
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