{"id":2142,"date":"2023-12-15T02:14:22","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T03:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/?p=2142"},"modified":"2023-12-15T04:42:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T04:42:15","slug":"what-can-be-done-to-curb-domestic-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/2023\/12\/15\/what-can-be-done-to-curb-domestic-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"What can be done to curb domestic violence?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Kent<\/p>\n

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Kent Mayne holds up a photo of his daughter Mandy, who was killed by her ex-husband, as he speaks in support of SB117 during a Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee hearing in the Senate Building in Salt Lake City, on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. At right is Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson. Mandy was Henderson\u2019s cousin.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n

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Kristin Murphy, Deseret News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Editor\u2019s note: <\/b>This story is part of a package on domestic violence issues in Utah following months of reporting by the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio. The package includes stories about those involved in the crisis, a dive into the numbers in the state and the nation and possible solutions state leaders are considering.<\/i><\/p>\n

It was early in the morning on Aug. 17, 2022, when Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson\u2019s phone buzzed with a news alert: fatal shooting in Taylorsville. Henderson arrived at the Capitol, and started her day. <\/p>\n

At noon, her phone buzzed again as she walked out of her office, this time a text from her mother. The victim was her cousin, Amanda \u201cMandy\u201d Mayne; the perpetrator was her ex-husband, Taylor Martin, who later turned the gun on himself. <\/p>\n

Shocked and devastated, as she recalls, Henderson went to her aunt\u2019s house where her cousin lived. \u201cWe sat there in silence for hours, just stunned,\u201d Henderson said. <\/p>\n

When detectives came by the house that afternoon, Henderson learned Martin had harassed her cousin at work that week, on Aug. 15; the next day, he again made threats to her workplace; and on Aug. 17, Martin stalked Mayne to a bus stop at about 5 a.m. and shot her 11 times, killing the 34-year-old. She had a domestic violence pamphlet in her pocket, her family says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was known, and that was very shocking to me. I thought, how did we get here? <\/i>If there were two interactions already this week? How did we get here?\u201d Henderson said, sitting in her office during an interview in September with the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio. <\/p>\n

Martin had a history of violent and threatening behavior \u2014 he had threatened a federal judge, former Gov. Gary Herbert, Mayne and her mother, and floated in and out of jail in the years leading up to the murder. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we found was shocking and disappointing, but also very clearly identified the gaps in our system that we absolutely needed to plug,\u201d Henderson said. <\/p>\n

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\"merlin_2996261.jpg\"<\/p>\n

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Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson poses for a portrait at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n

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Kristin Murphy, Deseret News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

So the lieutenant governor got to work. With support from lawmakers, she lobbied for passage of SB117, which requires all law enforcement officers in Utah to conduct a lethality assessment when responding to intimate partner violence. The bill sailed through the legislature with unanimous support from lawmakers, who also passed $30 million in funding for domestic violence service providers. <\/p>\n

Standardizing the lethality assessment was seen as an effective, relatively easy step the legislature could take to curb intimate partner violence in Utah. But with domestic violence a leading cause of homicide in Utah, what\u2019s next? <\/p>\n

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Near Liberty Park, on a quiet street in Salt Lake City, sits an unassuming purple house. For those who pass by, it doesn\u2019t seem extraordinary \u2014 but \u201cMy Auntie\u2019s House\u201d is a first-of-its-kind approach to helping families struggling with domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Run by the founders of the Amethyst Center For Healing<\/a>, a Salt Lake-based nonprofit that provides counseling for people who have experienced domestic violence, My Auntie\u2019s House is a halfway house for men who have used violence in their home. Based off a model first rolled out in Israel, it\u2019s a novel approach that seeks to keep women and children from moving into a shelter, while rehabilitating abusive men. <\/p>\n

Some of their clients come under a court order, at the request of a parole officer or as part of their probation. The Utah Division of Child and Family Services can also refer men to the home, while others might check themselves in at the request of their family, or clergy. <\/p>\n

Most men are admitted for four to six weeks. They get a full risk evaluation, and staff reviews their criminal, mental health and substance abuse history. They\u2019re encouraged to continue working \u2014 if they\u2019re unemployed, the center helps them find a new job. <\/b>They sign a release of information for their probation officer, the victims of record and for a number of other people. They\u2019re notified if the man leaves and although it\u2019s not a lockdown facility, failing to appear might be a violation of parole or a court order.<\/p>\n

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Related<\/div>\n