News Article

Mother Sought help from Family Court; Now She's Dead

The Arizona Republic, October 20, 2009

Two weeks before she was killed, Dawn Axsom pleaded with Judge Jose Padilla of Maricopa County Superior Court to let her leave Arizona with her son because she feared Gabriel Schwartz, the toddler's father, would harm her or their boy.  More

News Article

Family of Man Who Killed Wife, Self, Gets Custody

Centre Daily, June 11, 2009

Williamsport Judge Richard A. Gray has decided to give primary physical custody of the child who lost both parents in the Easter 2007 murder- suicide to the father's family in Williamsport. Ben Barone shot and killed his wife Jodi Barone during a planned custody exchange of their daughter April 8, 2007. Jodi's mother had been fighting for custody.  More

Action Alert

Mothers Deserve More

May 10, 2009

Mothers may be invisible to the mainstream media, but Stop Family Violence sees you. And we know that for many of you, this day is not easy. This year, instead of the card buying, candy giving, flower filled frenzy that Mother’s Day has become let’s truly honor Mothers by making visible your plight, your efforts, your stories and your dreams for Mothers everywhere. We'll send your comments to the President, VP, Cabinet Members and your members of Congress.
  More

Letter to Editor

Coffee, Tea and Domestic Violence

Your article, “Some Link Economy With Spate of Killings” (April 8, pg. A03), makes a much appreciated effort to look at the staggering numbers of murder-suicides in the last few weeks as not just isolated incidents, but symptoms of a bigger problem. The trouble is it missed naming the problem.   More

News Article

Behind the murder-suicides

St. Petersburg Times, April 29, 2009

The Violence and Injury Prevention Program at the University of South Florida has been conducting research on murder-suicides, also called homicide-suicides, since 1994. We know that roughly 50,000 Americans die from homicide and suicide every year, and 1,500-2,500 are murder-suicide deaths. The perpetrator is usually a man who kills one or more people, usually a woman  More

Opinion

52 Days of Domestic Violence Flu in America

Family Justice Center Alliance, May 4, 2009

This week the news is consumed with coverage of the swine flu, an important public health issue in America. As of May 2, there have been 167 confirmed cases of the swine flu in the United States and one death. But there has been little news about the mass killings of 68 people across America in the last 52 days, with men doing all the killing and virtually all related to men with a history of violence against women.  More

News Article

2 Boys Found Dead: Mom Rips Family Court

Chicago Tribune, March 31, 2009

"I feel that the judicial system failed me," said Amy Leichtenberg, whose missing sons bodies were found Sunday near a Christmas tree farm. "I pray that the courts listen to the warnings from other parents like me." Leichtenberg detailed her estranged husband's threats against her family and how she fought unsuccessfully to keep him from having unsupervised visits with their two sons.  More

News Article

Miami-Dade murder-suicide silences house of music, laughter

Miami Herald, February 26, 2009

The father of a family of musicians shot and killed his wife and two daughters in their South Miami-Dade home Wednesday morning before turning the gun on himself.  More

Opinion

Battered Justice For Battered Women

The Washington Post, March 19, 2005

It is common for the public and the courts to criticize women who are victims of domestic abuse for staying in an abusive relationship and tolerating it. But what happens when women do try to end the abuse? Jessica Gonzales's story provides one horrifying answer.   More