BATON ROUGE, La (BRPROUD) — It’s estimated that nearly 10 million people are affected by domestic violence in the United States each year. Co-founder of Alliance for HOPE International Gael Strack said most cases are related to strangulation.
“When it comes to domestic violence most of our high-risk victims are strangled,” said Strack. “It’s the type of crime you don’t think much about because most victims do not have external visible injuries.
That’s why Strack and the president of the organization, Casey Gwinn, have teamed up with the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s office for strangulation training, an intense informative session on what Gwinn calls the last red flag.
“Challenging cops, prosecutors, nurses, doctors, therapists, to listen to survivors, to understand how we’re failing survivors, to just plain to better to save them,” said Gwinn.
In their research, over the years Strack and Gwinn have found that a woman who has been strangled by her partner is 750% more likely to be killed by the same partner with a gun.
“A woman goes to a hospital even here in East Baton Rouge Parish, if the hospital is not trained in strangulation, they’re going to miss it,” said Gwinn.
It’s a mistake that can lead to sending someone home who may have brain damage, reasons why Gwinn said this is a topic every agency should be well informed on.
“If you all work together, you can save her life by stopping him, and keeping him accountable,” said Gwinn.
“We want everyone to be trained just to be well aware of what the situation is,” said EBR District Attorney Hillar Moore.
With the rise in domestic violence cases, Moore said this training should be provided in every city.
“This is about shining a spotlight and hoping that we can stop it much earlier before stopping a homicide,” said Strack.
Source Credit: Vannia Joseph, brproud. Link to original article.