The Rio Grande Valley’s four district attorneys cut to the chase Wednesday morning, saying domestic violence is really about women getting beaten, kids witnessing the ugly behavior, and when when they grow up repeating what they learned as children.
The four DAs have banded together as the Rio Grande Valley District Attorney’s Coalition against domestic violence and are conducting news conferences this week to spread the word about a subject people often shy away from.
Wednesday’s event was at the Oliveira Student Center at Texas Southmost College, intended to reach the 18-24 age group, which Cameron County District Luis V. Saenz said is crucial to stemming the tide of domestic violence and abuse.
A similar event is planned Thursday at the Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg. One was held Wednesday in Willacy County and will be held Friday in Starr County, the DAs said.
“Domestic violence is a very, very serious problem in our communities. It doesn’t just happen in Brownsville, in Los Fresnos. It happens in Starr County and Rio Grande City. It happens in McAllen, in Lyford, in Raymondville, the whole Valley, so we came together as a coalition, as a team putting together our resources to try and attack this problem,” Saenz said.
Saenz asked for a show of hands of those who know someone who has been affected by domestic violence. Many, but not all, raised their hands. Saenz said everyone should have.
“Everyone does, and it keeps happening folks. And as prosecutors we find it very frustrating because as prosecutors we know how to deal with the perpetrator. We go into court and hold that person accountable and we send them to jail, but what did we do? We put a band-aid on the problem,” he said.
Saenz said all the four district attorneys coming together to combat family violence was an historic occasion, when prosecutions were going on in all four counties, for the exact same thing.
“You are part of the solution, you are part of the answer we are looking for because by the time we show up in court it’s too late. The lady, somebody’s mother, somebody’s aunt, somebody’s cousin, somebody’s pretty sister has already been beat up. She’s already been punched, she’s already been kicked, her hair has been pulled and in some cases she’s beeen murdered,” he said.
“But we’re too late, yeah we’ll hold ‘em accountable. But we’re here because we need your help to stop that, to stop the violence, because it starts in the home, and we’re here to talk to you because you find yourselves in relationships or will pretty soon and in the very near future you will be starting families, you will be having kids, and that’s where it starts, where you teach the young ones that you don’t hit a woman,” he said.
Saenz then repeated what his grandfather told him, saying in Spanish that it’s cowardly to hit a woman.
“What happened to that? We lost that. We have to go back and gain that and that’s why we’re here talking to you today, so the tree doesn’t grow crooked, it grows straight, he said, referring to family values.
“Sometime this afternoon in Brownsville, in Rio Grande City, in Lyford. in Edinburg, a father, a boyfriend is going to come home and they’re going to start a discussion with the wife, the girlfriend whoever the female partner might be, and that discussion is going to escalate into an argument, over nothing, and that argument is going to escalate into a confrontation, over nothing, and that confrontation is going to escalate into the lady getting beat up, and yes, I’m reminded that males are sometimes the victims of abuse,” he said.
“And as they put him in handcuffs and as they walk him out the door, jumping over the chair, the TV that’s broken, the wall that’s kicked in, who’s over in the corner? The children who have just witnessed the dad get arrested. And what are they going to do when they grow up? They’re going to repeat the conduct. And that’s why we’re here today,” Saenz said.
Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez said DAs in the four counties have no hesitation in prosecuting the perpetrators of domestic violence but also have the responsibility to look out for domestic violence victims, who often have no idea how the judicial process works.
Rodriguez asked the students to put themselves in the place of the children in whose homes domestic violence occurs.
“Students, ladies and gentlemen you have as much power as we do up here to make a difference in your community. You have that power to change someone’s life to help someone that you know of today, at this moment, that’s living through domestic violence. Whether its physically, whether its verbally, mentally,” to help them get assistance to get through the trauma of domestic violence by referring them to domestic violence units in the four counties.
In Hidalgo County, from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31 2022, there were 6.649 victims of domestic violence, 2,000 referrals for protective orders and 2,800 safety planning meetings with victims of family violence, Rodriguez said.
He added that reports of domestic, or family, violence are increasing because people are no longer afraid to report it. He commended the district attorneys for having personnel in their offices specifically assigned to respond to domestic violence.
The national domestic violence hotline 1-800-799-7233 will connect callers to local offices to deal with domestic violence.
Callers can use the line to connect with domestic violence units in Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy and Starr counties, officials said.
