Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the three children who were found dead in their home yesterday afternoon after police were dispatched to the River Falls home on a domestic call.
Many batterers use children as a tactic of coercion and control against their mother, including threats to abduct or kill the children, particularly when she tries to leave the relationship. Batterers often engage in legal fights over custody and physical placement as a way to have ongoing control over their ex-partners.
Children and others can be killed during the course of domestic violence homicide/suicide but generally there is one primary intended victim, usually the spouse/partner. When children are killed instead of the intended victim, it may be that the perpetrator is attempting to further hurt the intended victim by taking away what they most value or love.
We at Turningpoint are making ourselves available to anyone who would like to talk about this tragic event or is currently afraid for their safety due to domestic violence. Please feel free to give us a call at 715-425-6751, or text to 715-821-8626 (Text hotline is available 24 hours a day) stop by our office in River Falls or visit our Facebook page -http://www.facebook.com/pages/Turningpoint/313878767186.
This is a very nice gesture. However, would it be possible to edit this with more gender-neutral language? Women do this to men as well, though not as often with the threat of physical violence. I recognize that Turningpoint generally helps women victims of domestic violence, but gender stereotypes hurt men AND women both.
Thank you so much for this today!! I am also concerned that the police do not have correct education regarding the issues you are stating here.This is very similar to the event at Lakeland, MN,somehow the mother was arrested where do we begin to get the police to see who the bulllies really are usually the victim somehow comes across at the bully in response to what has been going on by the time police are involved. Why is it this continues and children are hurt this is very dramatic but there are many hurts that do not show that police miss in their perceptions…how to show the bigger picture rather than gut reaction to an incident that may not be what it seems to look like…also if you need vol let me know…
Thank you for all the hard work you do everyday, Turningpoint staff! You are appreciated more than you know!