Dangers of Couples Counseling

"Research confirms that battering men often escalate violence to re-capture battered women and children who have sought safety in separation."   "In fact, some studies suggest that victims may be in greatest danger when they finally do leave their abusers." 
Researchers studying abusers in order to identify factors representing an increased risk of serious assault or homicide for victims, have found correlations between increased risk and precisely the circumstances under which couples often enter counseling:
·  the victim recently obtained an abuse order, separated from the abuser or filed for divorce ; 
·  there was a change in custody arrangements limiting the abuser's access to children and victim ; and
·  the abuser had access to the victim .
One study on couples counseling found that 50% of the men were violent toward partners within six weeks of treatment, and six months later, all had been violent. 

INCREASED DANGER OF ASSAULT
"Although divorced and separated women comprise only 10% of all women in America, they account for three-quarters of all battered women."   A 1994 national study found that the victimization rate of women separated from their husbands is 25 times higher than that of married women. 
"Battered women seek medical attention for injuries sustained as a consequence of domestic violence significantly more often after separation than during cohabitation; as many as 75% of the visits to emergency rooms by battered women occur after separation. "  One study found that about 75% of calls to police for intervention and assistance in domestic violence occur after separation from batterers. 

INCREASED DANGER OF MURDER
"Women are most likely to be murdered when trying to break off an abusive relationship or when reporting an abusive incident to authorities." 
"Homicidal husbands are often noted to have threatened to do exactly what they did, should their wives ever leave them, and they often explain their homicides as responses to the intolerable stimulus of the wife's departure."   One study revealed that half of the homicides of female spouses and partners were committed by men after separation or divorce. 
"In one six-year period alone - 1967 to 1973 - battering men killed 17,500 women and children in the United States.  To grasp the enormity of that figure consider that only a little more than twice as many men - 39,000 to be exact - were killed during the same period in combat in Vietnam." 
In 1993, according to the F.B.I., of U.S. homicide victims slain by spouses or boy/girlfriends, 72% (1,531) were women murdered by husbands or boyfriends.  Less than one-third of victims, 27.8%, (591) were men killed by wives or girlfriends.   

DOMESTIC MURDERS IN VERMONT
While 11% (9) of the 79 males killed in Vermont between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 1998 were killed by a current or former wife or girlfriend, 58% (30) of the 52 women killed during that period are believed by police to have died at the hands of a current or former husband or boyfriend.  A number of Vermont's female homicide victims were known to have been separated at the time they were murdered:
	April 6, 1998: Two days after ending the relationship, Bonnie Olney, 31, was shot by former boyfriend and brother-in-law, Robert Olney, while her children got ready for school upstairs.  Olney then shot himself.  (Springfield)

	August 17: On her 46th birthday, 2-1/2 weeks after she obtained an abuse order against him, Hannah Hobb was shot to death by her ex-boyfriend, Rocky Blair, who later shot himself.  (Enosburg)

	December 18, 1997: Gloria LaPoint, 43, was shot 3 times and killed by estranged husband Larry, who killed himself.  (Rutland City)
	April 17, 1996: Lenora Brace, 53, ended her relationship with estranged boyfriend Richard Stevens less than 40 minutes before he shot and killed her, a relative, and himself.  (Rutland)
	June 9, 1996: Kieu Dang, 27, was shot by estranged boyfriend Den Le before he turned the gun on himself.  (Burlington)
	May 28, 1995: Ina Campbell, 43, and a friend died in a fire set by her estranged abusive husband John, who also died in the fire. (Hardwick)
	October 16, 1994: As he'd previously threatened, James Bateman shot his estranged wife Kathleen Bateman, 35, and then shot himself.  Ms. Bateman had requested an emergency abuse order in September, but it was denied by the judge when Ms. Bateman accepted an agreement in court under which he agreed not to intimidate her or visit their home without permission.  (Bennington)
	June 2, 1993: Patricia Provost, 49, was shot by estranged husband Ronald who then took his own life.  (Williston)
	September 15, 1992: Judith Hart Fournier, 33, stopped to call police while followed by former boyfriend Robert Sawyer who stabbed her to death through the open car window.  (Brattleboro)
	October 25, 1992: Diane Young Waterman, 21, was abducted and shot by her long-time abusive estranged husband Gerald.  He then killed himself.  (Brownington)
	May 17, 1991: Michelle Mansfield, 23, was shot by estranged husband Benjamin Jordan who shot himself, but recovered.  (Wallingford)
	January 29, 1990: Cynthia Thow, 23, died when estranged boyfriend Robert Mayo broke down her door, beat her unconscious, loaded her into his car, and deliberately drove into a tree.  (Rutland)
	August 18, 1990: Yvonne Jones, 30, was shot by estranged boyfriend Joseph Coleman who then shot himself.  (North Clarendon)

	Jeri Martinez
	April, 1999

	SOURCES