Press Clips

ProJo OpEd on Anti-Strangulation Bill

Don't delay strangle ban

By Deborah DeBare

The Providence Journal, May 20th 2012

He "started yelling at me, and he held me up against the refrigerator, choking me. I didn't know what to do. I was fading. I didn't know what was going on. All I knew was that I fell to the ground," testified Carmen Cruz, a domestic-violence survivor, to the Judiciary Committee of the Rhode Island House. "This happens all the time with abuse," she added.

Though Cruz survived, she endured many more years of abuse, including an attempt on her life when her abuser shot her in front of her children and grandchildren.

Cruz's story is familiar to domestic-violence survivors. Strangulation is a very common and dangerous form of domestic assault. Domestic violence is about power and control, and strangulation is one way that power can be violently asserted. When your abuser strangles you, he is telling you that he holds your life in his hands and he has the power to end it.

Projo Article on Legislative Agenda

Bills aimed at reducing domestic violence

By Philip Marcelo
Journal State House Bureau
The Providence Journal, February 22, 2011

PROVIDENCE –– Following a year in which Rhode Island saw its highest number of domestic violence-related murders, four bills are being introduced into the state legislature this year to better protect victims and their children.

Projo Op-Ed on DV deaths in 2010

Stopping domestic-violence murders

By Deborah DeBare
The Providence Journal. January 18, 2011.

In 2010, more Rhode Islanders — 13 — died because of domestic violence than ever before recorded. They lost their lives brutally at the hands of those who were supposed to love and protect them — their family members and their intimate partners. Sadly, several of these deaths occurred during the holiday season, in the last two weeks of the year.

ProJo Op-Ed on Family Court and Child Safety

Family Court should champion children's safety

By Deborah DeBare
Providence Journal. July 24, 2010.

During the last few months, the Rhode Island Family Court opened the door for new solutions that could provide greater safety for victims of domestic violence and their children. In its search for a new Family Court chief judge, the State of Rhode Island must weigh numerous credentials. In order to build upon the crucial work that Judge Jeremiah Jeremiah initiated this year, one of the top qualifications for the next chief judge must be a commitment to champion our children’s safety.