A tide of violence

Last week, as searchers continued to sift through the county landfill looking for Lori Hacking's body, authorities say a woman was mowed down by her boyfriend's car in Arches National Park, a Carbon County woman was shot four times by her husband and a Roy man held his estranged wife at gunpoint for two hours.

The violence that continues to claim and threaten women's lives in Utah is ever-present and on the increase, leaving the state with a homicide rate among women that is 21 percent higher than the national average.

"The majority of the domestic violence victims are white, predominantly female, and firearms are the weapon of choice," said Kristine Knowlton, an assistant attorney general. "The homicide rate keeps going up, it just keeps getting worse."

For 2002-2003, the two Salt Lake County crisis shelters for battered women and their children saw a 70 percent increase in the number of victims who could not be sheltered there due to crowding and instead had to be housed elsewhere in the state or in motels.

This latest fiscal year, the 50-bed YWCA shelter in Salt Lake City on its own experienced a 73 percent increase.

"It is important for people to understand that domestic violence continues to be a serious problem in Utah, that domestic violence is a crime, not a private family matter," said Anne Burkholder, the Y's chief executive officer.

"We are very concerned that thousands of women and children are being displaced from their homes because of domestic violence," she said.

Mark Hacking, 28, stands accused of murdering his wife, Lori Hacking, allegedly shooting her while she slept and then dumping her body in the trash. He is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on $1 million bail.

Since the early 1990s, prosecutors across the state have teamed with police and lawmakers to strengthen Utah's community response to the problem of domestic violence.

Authorities have been trained, laws have been tightened or added to the books and there has been an overall increased emphasis on protecting victims from their abusers.

Still, the problem continues.

"One of the questions we are always being asked is if domestic violence is on the rise or is just being reported more," said Stewart Ralphs, chair of the Utah Domestic Violence Council.

"The answer is yes," to both.

Through community outreach services and victim advocate programs often housed in police departments, battered spouses are more likely to know of resources offering protection — from court orders with criminal penalties to keep abusers away to counseling and information about transitional housing options.