Press Releases
NEW AUBURN SHOOTING DEMONSTRATES THE LIFE-THREATENING RISK OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Rice Lake, WI – On June 18, 2023, gun violence devastatingly struck the Barron County community when Beth Parker was murdered by Jeremy Wittrock in their New Auburn home. In the traumatic domestic violence incident, Wittrock committed suicide.
Any loss of life is tragic, but the loss of Beth’s life at the hands of someone who she trusted can seem especially senseless.
“Beth deserved to live with dignity and safety. She deserved to live. Our community has suffered a tremendous loss. It is important that we treat each other and ourselves with compassion at this time” says Hayley Sirinek, Embrace Sexual Violence Program Coordinator.
When a domestic violence murder-suicide occurs, communities are left struggling to find an answer or motive for why the murder occurred without the ability to hold the harm-doer accountable for their actions.
According to Allie Musolf, Embrace Domestic Violence Program Coordinator, “Beth was much more than a victim of domestic violence. It’s important we remember that any media coverage about her murder will inevitably fail to depict the complexity and fullness of her life and the impact that the homicide and suicide have had on surviving family members, friends, and others close to the victim.”
Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior in which the harm-doer does everything they can to maintain power and control over the victim. This may include verbal abuse, intimidation and threats, physical and sexual assault, controlling access to financial resources, abuse of pets, and isolation from friends and family. Harm-doers kill because it’s their final act of trying to control their victim. Domestic violence is often a carefully guarded secret in homes that appear normal, and it can be very difficult for victims to reach out for help because they are likely to be met with skepticism. Domestic violence continues to be an enormous social epidemic.
In 2021 in Wisconsin, according to End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin’s homicide report, 80 people lost their lives to domestic violence.
“That is one death every four-and-a-half days. In 2022, there were over 100 domestic violence homicides in Wisconsin. The number of lives lost is increasing. What we are doing as a state and a community is not enough,” added Musolf.
Domestic violence homicides rarely occur as an isolated incident of abuse.
“The violence is patterned and predictable which also means it is preventable,” Sirinek explains. “It’s time we ask ourselves how we as a community can better identify harm, connect survivors to existing resources, and safely intervene in these dangerous situations before they turn deadly. We all have a role to play in keeping our family, friends, and neighbors safe.”
Research shows addressing the root causes of gender-based violence and oppression is essential to preventing domestic violence homicides.
According to Musolf, “Expanding our community’s access to safe and affordable housing, bodily autonomy, prevention education, and economic equality will reduce violence. Acting on this knowledge and providing funding for these types of services in our community is how we will save lives.”
Embrace provides supportive services to all people affected by domestic and sexual violence. Our staff is available 24/7 to provide free, confidential services including: personal advocacy; crisis counseling; medical advocacy and accompaniment; community outreach; and prevention. If you or someone you know needs support, call our toll free number at 1-800-942-0556 or text us at 715-532-6976.
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Firearms contribute significantly to domestic violence in the U.S. — to threaten, to coerce, to control, and to kill. It may be a surprise to some, but for those in the anti-violence movement, it is a well known fact that incidents of gun violence in our communities have strong ties to domestic violence.
More than two-thirds of mass shootings nationwide are related to domestic violence incidents or are perpetrated by shooters with a history of domestic violence, according to a recent Johns Hopkins study. Further, one in three mass shootings involved a shooter who was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm at the time of the shooting.
Societal pressures have taught us to believe domestic violence is a ‘private family matter’ however, communities need to address these issues to prevent the loss of life, like a recent incident in Barron county. Our thoughts are with the families of the shooting victims and with all people who experience gun violence at the hands of an intimate partner.
Research of domestic violence in Wisconsin shows predictable patterns and precipitating factors that lead to intimate partner homicide. This predictability of gun violence and domestic violence makes them both preventable crimes.
Existing legislation is not enough. We need more robust, multifaceted solutions like community and legal systems recognizing access to guns as a considerable danger to the life of the individual, those known to the individual, and their local community.
Preventing those with a history of domestic violence from accessing a firearm has proven effective in reducing rates of domestic violence homicide. We know that past violence is the best predictor of future violence and often that past violence is domestic violence.
It’s on all of us to make our communities a safer place by believing survivors, holding harm-doers accountable, and raising awareness about the realities of firearms and domestic violence.
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Unknown. Due to cases going unreported and racial data on missing persons being poorly tracked, the actual number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) across the United States is unknown.
Even being underreported, the National Crime Information Center had over 5,000 missing Indigenous women and girls reported in 2016. Only 116 of those were logged into the Department of Justice’s national database.
American Indian women face murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average. Homicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among those ages 1-19 for American Indian and Alaska Native women according to the Centers for Disease Control. These aren’t just numbers; they’re sisters, daughters, and mothers being taken.
A task force has been formed at both the national and state levels to address the epidemic. But is it enough? Though these groups are prioritizing a critical need, developing a shared database to track MMIWG, advocates emphasize the importance of resources also going toward prevention and healing.
According to the National Institute of Justice, 56% of Native Women have experienced sexual violence, and 49% have experienced stalking. In addition, 96% of Native female victims of sexual violence experienced violence at the hands of non-Native harm doers.
The pervasiveness of this injustice represents a dire need to (1) address the systemic barriers that allow this horrific reality to persist and (2) amplify the voices of MMIWG advocates and families that work tirelessly to share their stories, demanding justice and the restoration of safety.
The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) is organizing a National Week of Action (May 1st - 7th) to raise awareness about MMIWG. We must rise up to challenge the inaction and silence of those in power in response to the crisis of MMIWG.
You can get involved by sharing a photo of yourself on social media wearing red and/or traditional attire. Make sure to use hashtags #MMIWGActionNow, #NoMoreStolenSisters and #MMIWG.
Red is the official color of the #MMIW campaign because in various tribes, it is known to be the only color spirits can see. It is hoped that by wearing red, the missing spirits of the women and children will be called back home.
You can also purchase the 2023 No More Stolen Sisters poster. All net proceeds go towards NIWRC's mission to end violence against Native women and children by providing culturally grounded resources, training, technical assistance, and policy development. For a complete list of events, registration information, and downloadable resources, check out https://www.niwrc.org/mmiwnatlweek23. Join us in saying ‘enough is enough’—not one more stolen sister.
