Pauletta Pérez was folding some towels in her room. It was January 2, 2010 when a loud noise made her turn around and she discovered that the sound came from a gun pointed at her head. It was her husband. The person she trusted the most shot her five times, four of them in the head. She survived and now dedicates her life to supporting other women who, like her, have experienced domestic violence.
This surviving woman managed to get out of her house and seek help from her neighbors, who, upon seeing her, called 911. After long and painful surgeries, as well as constant therapies, Pauletta came out ahead, but not without damage such as hearing loss in her right ear and constant check-ups to prevent any of the fragments of the bullets from causing more serious damage.
Before that terrible day, Pauletta suffered other types of violence from her husband that never happened during their courtship.
"You might wonder, where did he get this gun? Well, my father, who two years earlier had a stroke and was an avid gun enthusiast, asked him to please take them, which were all legal and registered, and leave them at the police department. He could no longer shoot. As it turns out, my husband never turned those guns in. He shot me with my father's gun," Pauletta detailed in a media session conducted by Ethnic Media Services.
Pauletta's husband committed suicide the same day he committed the murder.
"That relieved me of having to face him in court, long battles, divorce and other difficult situations. However, once I got back on my feet, I wanted to do something and I wanted to make a difference. I didn't want anyone else to go through what I went through. I decided I wanted to become an advocate. So I took the training and started my advocacy work," she said.
However, many are not so lucky.
Is there a link between gun sales and domestic violence?
Both situations have increased by more than 20 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data suggest a close connection as 4.5 million women have been threatened with a gun by a domestic partner. One million women have been shot and 600 have been murdered.
"The increase in domestic violence and the increase in the sale and purchase of guns will definitely contribute to the increase in deaths caused by domestic violence," said Pauletta Perez, who, among her many activist positions, created "Flutrr," an online platform where victims and survivors of abuse and human trafficking can safely sell their artwork.
According to Tiffany Gardner, who currently serves as the state manager of the Community Violence Initiative at Giffords, situations like Pauletta's are common but preventable, which is why it is necessary to crack down on current gun laws.
What is domestic violence?
"Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior that seeks to demonstrate power in controlling the other, regardless of race, education, economic status, and ethnicity," Gardner said.
The expert stressed that the combination of intimate partner violence and access to firearms "is a deadly combination and especially puts women at tremendous risk".
In that regard, she explained that in the U.S., women are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than in other high-income countries, while in the U.S., women are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than in other high-income countries. every 14 hours a woman is shot under domestic violence.
"There are more than a million women alive today who have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner."
He added that 4.5 million women have reported that their partner has threatened them with a gun.
While it is true that there are men affected by the same situation, the statistics indicate that it is in much smaller proportion, since 70 percent of the victims of homicide by their intimate partner are women. Ninety-eight percent of them are killed by male partners.
Gaps and challenges towards a safe path
Tiffany Gardner pointed out that in the prosecution of domestic violence cases, there is a gap: the prosecution follow-up.
Nationally, she noted, most cases are handled in the context of civil contact, but there are a variety of reasons why domestic violence cases don't go to court, and some of those might include the victim not seeking protective orders, or deciding to withdraw or reject any legal recourse.
On top of that, proving domestic violence is difficult: "You have to prove that the offender and the victim had a violent relationship as defined by law. And that the alleged victim feared at the very least imminent harm from the alleged offender. Which means that the harm would be immediate and that the offender could actually cause the harm."
So, often "women and victims choose not to take this any further, there are so many things that could be involved in court cases".
In this sense, she explained that an offender or abuser is continually harassing, threatening or stalking his victim during the judicial process in order to prevent him from continuing with the proceedings. Another situation that victims go through is when the Prosecutor's Office requests evidence to ventilate the cases, such as photos, videos and testimonies, which is difficult to obtain.
However, if firearms are involved, the perpetrators can face multiple charges, although it depends on each state and its laws.
According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, an estimated 90 to 95 percent of cases result in plea bargains and do not even progress to a restraining order.
Laura Cutilletta, CEO of the Giffords Law Center, said there are two main ways to restrict access to firearms for those who have committed domestic violence through the law.
The first is the prohibition against buying or possessing a gun. If the person has been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor, the sale and possession will be denied under federal law and the laws of numerous states.
However, at the federal level there are loopholes in the law, as background checks are only required when buying from a licensed dealer or at a gun show, but an individual advertising a gun on the Internet does not do a background check, so they don't know there is a ban for domestic violence. Plus that law only applies to current or former spouses.
The second, he said, is the restraining order, which often begins with an emergency proceeding where a victim can obtain an ex parte order, meaning the defendant is not given notice.
"Restraining orders are very effective. States with these laws have seen a 13 percent reduction in intimate partner homicides involving firearms," he said.
Although it's worth noting that protective orders have seen a 16 percent decrease. "We have lots of laws in place in all 50 states and at the federal level, but if we don't implement them, well, they're going to be a lot less effective in saving lives."
In the case of immigrant women, applying for relief or restraining orders is almost nonexistent, as the fear of being deported due to their immigration status holds them back. However, these women can apply for the remedies and even some others that would allow them to obtain asylum in the country.
Children, the most vulnerable
Children are victims of domestic violence and can also be perpetrators, Cutilletta said. "We know that as many as 10 million children and teens witness violence between their parents or caregivers each year, and can experience emotional, mental and social harm that affects their development," Cutilletta said.
Male children who witness domestic violence appear to be at greater risk of using violence when they are older, "and we know that having a gun in the home when a family is in crisis puts adults and children at risk including other forms of violence such as unintentional homicide and suicide."
According to the expert, children and young people can also be perpetrators of domestic violence. Nearly 1 in 11 females and about 1 in 14 male high school students report having experienced physical dating violence in the past year.
While 26 percent of female victims of sexual violence, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner first experience other forms of intimate partner violence before the age of 18.
California and Gun Violence
For Shikha Hamilton, national advocacy and mobilization director for "Brady: United Against Gun Violence" and who has been fighting this social phenomenon since 2000, there is an indisputable link between firearms and fatal outcomes in domestic violence situations: it increases the risk of homicide by 500 percent. "This is a pressing issue in our country."
During his activism, Hamilton has seen state legislatures pass incredibly broad and thoughtful laws that will help reduce gun violence, without focusing and increasing vigilance in vulnerable communities, which bear the brunt of this crisis.
"During the 1980s and early 1990s, California's gun death rate was consistently higher than the rest of the U.S. The state responded by enacting the strongest gun laws in the country, and it worked."
Thus, California's firearm death rate began a sharp decline from 1993 to 2019, as it dropped nearly 59 percent, four times as much as the rest of the nation in 2019.
The activist noted that California passed an extreme risk law following the 2014 mass shooting in Isla Vista, a shooting perpetrated by a 22-year-old with a mix of mental health and other issues, but who had exhibited misogynistic tendencies and violent actions toward women in the past, among other violent and deadly crimes.
"Approximately 54 percent of mass shootings are related to domestic violence or family violence. In 2019 alone, there was a reported 700 gun and violence restraining orders issued throughout California. This law is saving lives. Unfortunately, action remains stalled on a similar law at the federal level. That's why we continue to advocate for comprehensive bills at the federal level that would include a federal extreme risk law, but also a bill that expands and strengthens our background check system," he said.
He further explained that the background check system has helped stop nearly 2 million firearm sales to prohibited purchasers. However, many sales, such as private transfers between individuals are exempt from a background check, meaning someone can purchase a firearm.
"While we have made great strides with state legislation, at the federal level, to continue legislation, the influence of the NRA - National Rifle Association - and politicization have stalled needed change. And that delay is costing lives.
Americans own an estimated 393 million guns and approximately 4.6 million children live in households with a firearm, which is stored loaded and unlocked.
75 percent of shootings are facilitated because children have access to unsecured firearms in the home. Meanwhile, unintentional shooting deaths from children handling a firearm rose to 31 percent during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An average of 100 people die every day from gun violence in this country. "That means every day we are falling behind in passing needed laws. Our fellow Americans, including children are dying."
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