"A man was arguing with his 13-year-old daughter and struck and kicked her several times. The mother attempted to intervene ... and was struck in the face also. The 2-year-old old boy was pushed into a wall and thrown to the floor. Two other children were present but not injured."

"Domestic violence in the presence of a child runs rampant," said Salt Lake police detective Suzanne Williams, a member of the domestic violence unit. "It's just crazy."

And one treatment provider says once an abuser is arrested and charged, prosecutors and judges drop or dismiss charges of domestic violence in the presence of a child far too often. "The charge is used as a bargaining chip with the perpetrator," said the provider, who wanted to remain confidential. The perpetrator is left with the domestic violence charge, but not the child offense part of the charge.

"This validates the perps and sends them a message that it wasn't that bad. And, it ties our hands as treatment providers. We want to give them additional treatment that addresses children and how domestic violence affects them. But when the charge is dropped, we have a harder time requiring the additional treatment."

Grave consequences

Domestic violence crosses all racial, religious, educational, social and economic lines. For most people, it is hidden and rarely mentioned in public. It is not seen as a societal problem that effects individuals, families and communities.

"We've got to take it seriously. We've got to stop thinking it's a family issue, a religious issue," said Gina Painter, a licensed clinical social worker with Salt Lake County Probation Services. "We have to be hugely intolerant and look at a crime as a crime. We have made a lot of strides but not quick enough for people who are dying."

Reducing homicides is the No. 1 concern, Searle said. Domestic violence figures into a third of Utah's murders each year.

Groups like the Salt Lake Valley Domestic Violence Coalition and the Utah Domestic Violence Council put their heart and soul into the issue. But they don't have much support from state and local governments.

"We're some of the most dedicated hard-working people. We feel very passionate (about it), but I kind of feel we are working alone," Painter said.

Jensen doesn't see much progress in the area of domestic violence prevention. "We're slipping backwards in Utah. We're not on the same page," she said.

What's needed, she said, is accountability from the top down. The governor's office needs to adopt "best practices" guidelines because jurisdictions vary widely in how they handle domestic violence. States like Washington, Arizona, Massachusetts and California all have these documents — a set of uniform policies that govern areas touched by domestic violence.

Arizona's "best practices" domestic violence document, for example, gives guidelines for state government, counseling, children's programs, community outreach, case management, safe homes, shelters, advocacy and crisis intervention.

Why doesn't Utah have something like this in place, Jensen asks.

The consequences are grave, Jensen said. "It's horrifying."

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