Renew fight against domestic violence

Over the course of just over a month this past summer, six women were slain as a result of intimate partner homicides in Cook County. The names of these victims faded quickly from public attention soon after their stories hit the newspapers.

But their personal tragedies involving intimate partner abuse remind us of an alarming problem that all too often lurks in the shadows of our communities until it is too late.

October marks Domestic Violence awareness month and here in Cook County, tens of thousands of women each year report that they have been the victims of this crime.

We also know that children who witness violence between their parents or caretakers run an extremely high risk for transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next. So what we are really talking about is a generational epidemic effecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality and even gender.

I believe that as prosecutors we need to look for new ways to renew the fight against domestic violence and call attention to the problem by working to improve both services and support for the victims of this crime.

There is good news to report here in Cook County, where the Chief Judge has convened a task force to make important recommendations on the operation of our Domestic Violence Court. The task force is scheduled to publish recommendations this fall and we look forward to working on their implementation.

In the State's Attorney's Office we are already working very hard on this issue and putting practices in place to provide more support for victims as well as increasing our communication with complaining victims and witnesses.

We have also consolidated our domestic violence division between the city of Chicago and the suburbs and we are working hard to improve coordination between Chicago Police and other law enforcement agencies.

Given the statistics we see with this crime it is clear there is more work to be done.

Anita Alvarez

Chicago

Cook County State's Attorney