More on Domestic Violence in the Spotlight

A while back I wrote about how the murder of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew by her estranged brother-in-law had thrust the issue of domestic violence into the public spotlight. More recently, the (alleged) domestic assault of pop star Rihanna by her pop star boyfriend Chris Brown has served to stimulate the public conversation about domestic violence even further. In particular, the severity of the assault -- during which Brown reportedly placed Rihanna in stranglehold and choked her to near unconsciousness -- has raised awareness of intimate partner homicide, an issue we've discussed before. For example, a recent Chicago Tribune article highlights the fact that choking is a harbinger of potentially lethal IPV:

Domestic violence victims who are choked are at significant risk for being killed. The Chicago Women's Health Risk Study, which examined how to predict domestic violence homicide, found that 12 percent of women whose partners choked them were later killed, compared with 6 percent of women who had been attacked but not choked.

I was especially pleased to see homicide researcher* (and fellow DWCer!) Becky Block quoted in the article:

There is something particularly chilling about choking, said Carolyn Rebecca Block, senior research analyst with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and principal investigator for the Chicago study.

"If somebody can look you in the eye and squeeze the breath of life out of you ... what kind of person could do that to someone else?" she said. "You're talking about the ultimate degree of power and control."

Though it is regrettable that Rihanna has to endure this very difficult time in a very public manner, one hopes that all of the attention will serve to educate women, and men, about the realities of domestic violence.

*Folks who are interested in homicide research should check out the Homicide Research Working Group, an organization -- along with the Division on Women & Crime -- in which Becky is an active member.