Utahns hope to make domestic violence 'intolerable'

So far this month, charges have been filed in the Salt Lake City district courts in relation to a man beating his pregnant wife, a wife abusing her husband, a son assaulting his mother and roommates threatening one anothers' lives with guns.

All are considered cases of domestic violence, but all affect communities far beyond the confines of the home, advocates say. And the problem is not limited to Salt Lake City.

Additional charges have been filed against a man accused of intentionally running over his 64-year-old wife. And a Draper couple died following what police believe was a murder-suicide. In addition, a 24-year-old woman shot her ex-boyfriend, then killed herself on Oct. 4 in Salt Lake City, and a Logan woman was hospitalized Oct. 14 after her brother allegedly attacked her with kitchen knives and a garden hoe.

Earlier this year, a woman attacked her husband with a hammer while he was blindfolded, and another woman tried to run over her husband with a sport-utility vehicle. On April 6, an Ogden woman stabbed her 24-year-old boyfriend to death during a family trip to Causey Reservoir in Weber County.

Some of the alleged perpetrators have long criminal records, while others haven't been found guilty of even a minor traffic offense.

Experts believe most of the people who attack their adult family members are men — about 85 percent — but also believe that crimes against men are underreported.

University of Utah scientist and social worker Moises Prospero says the issue of women acting as domestic violence perpetrators has thrown a curve-ball to advocates in the past five or 10 years.

There is no question that women are now acting violently at greater rates than they used to, but lead researchers are debating whether the women are defending themselves or picking the fights, Prospero said.

As yet, there is no consensus, but researchers are beginning to learn that women perpetrate psychological abuse at least as often as men do and are more likely to use weapons when committing acts of physical violence, Prospero said.

He said the solution to the problem lies in changing the societal notion that violence is a justifiable way to solve conflicts. Individuals learn that violence is OK from many sources, such as their parents' punishing them with spankings or their country going to war, he said.