By CHRISTOPHER LENOIS

In the United States, it is estimated that only 13 percent of domestic violence survivors seek assistance. Thus, a staggering number of incidents go unreported.

What may be of even more concern is that incidents involving emotional, verbal, or economic abuse are unrecognized for what they are – a relationship based on a damaging cycle that often leads to lethal consequences.

In the River Parishes, where domestic violence arrests are a frequent item on police blotters, Elizabeth Johnson, of the Metropolitan Battered Women’s Program, strives to educate the community about a problem most people would rather not talk about.

“The first year I was here. It was so taboo, so hush-hush,” Johnson recalled of her 1998 arrival. “It’s everybody’s business until everybody does something about it.”

From training sessions with sheriff’s deputies on collecting evidence, to education programs in schools, Johnson has instituted numerous programs to create awareness that the issue exists on levels that go well beyond physical abuse. Abuse follows a pattern that continues through generations, Johnson said, therefore it is vital to make children aware of the signs.

She hopes to incorporate this awareness into a teen pregnancy prevention program for which the River Parishes are jointly submitting requests for funding.

“Teen abuse is on the rise. The fact that a pregnancy is there enhances it,” Johnson said.

Teen-agers, emotionally immature by nature, are more likely to fall into patterns of emotional abuse, intimidation and “economic blackmail,” Johnson said.

“Domestic violence is about power and control. Pregnancy creates an isolation that makes domestic violence more likely to occur because of the age,” Johnson explained.

The program, funded through the Special Project Unit of the Louisiana Department of Social Services, will enable the parishes to receive around $150,000 for the establishment of a center to educate teens about issues surrounding pregnancy, including safe sex and abstinence. Though the proposal is being submitted by the region, each parish will receive separate funding for their program, said Myra Valentine, the grant writer for St. John the Baptist Parish. The intention is to have quarterly sessions within each parish, but there will be some overlap of events between the parishes.

“We’d host something and invite St. Charles and St. James. Then St. Charles might host something, we’d be invited to, and so forth,” said Valentine.

Pregnancy rates in the River Parishes run between 14-17 percent per 100 teens, which is slightly lower than the Louisiana average of 18.1 percent. According to recent statistics in the national publication, Kids Count, Louisiana is tied with Georgia and South Carolina for having the eighth-highest birth rate among teens aged 15-17. (New statistics will be released at the end of May.)

Local efforts are being coordinated through the Community Action Centers, with the vision of involving officials from a number of disciplines in education.

“We’ve contacted social service agents, truant officers. Everybody has offered their support,” said Valentine.

Experts agree that improved education during the younger ages would help break the cycle of domestic violence perpetuated in families. Yvonne Montz, a victims assistance counselor with the St. John Parish District Attorney’s office, said incidents are more likely to occur during holidays, when families get together.

“People have just grown up with it being that way,” said Montz, whose role is to help survivors through the criminal justice process of a domestic violence incident and refer them to assistance programs. “We try and get them to see they don’t have to take that. If his drinking is going to get heavy, they can take the kids and go somewhere.”

Though there are incidents of domestic violence where a male is the battered party, the overwhelming majority of abuse (95 percent) is instigated by a man and a received by a woman. Incidents of abuse are not at all determined by social or economic status.

“The cars in our parking lots have been everything from Mercedes to ragged old Chevrolets,” said Johnson. “Abuse happens to anyone who has the misfortune of getting involved with a person who chooses to manipulate them to a degree that includes death.”

An arrest is mandatory whenever deputies are called in on a domestic violence incident, Montz said, but a number of the cases never get to court.

“Some women change their mind about pressing charges because their husband’s not going to be home to pay the bills. Or they originally called just to get someone out of the house for the night,” said Montz. “Others are just plain scared what this person’s going to do to them. We try and tell them what happens if they don’t testify. Now they have the support of the court, the D.A., the police. If they don’t, then they’re alone.”

What happens is usually an escalation. Women who have been assaulted by their partners are referred to as “survivors,” rather than victims.

“A victim is someone who has been murdered due to domestic violence,” Johnson said. It takes a survivor of domestic violence 3-5 attempts to leave an abusive relationship, and 75 percent of the murders that stem from domestic violence occur when a victim attempts to leave.

“That number could be higher, because a police officer may not write (the murder) up as domestic violence-related,” said Merni Carter, the executive director for the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “They may not know the history, and there’s no box for them to check on their report. So stats are difficult to track.”

Johnson describes the dynamics of domestic violence as a three-phase cycle. First there is a tension-building stage; where the survivor feels embarrassment more than anger, and will resolve to be a better partner. “They’re hopeful it’s going to be one time and one time only,” Johnson said.

Then comes an incident of acute battering – perhaps physical, but also emotional, verbal or sexual. The level of abuse goes from controlled to uncontrolled, and the survivor feels fear for their life and the safety of the children.

“Domestic violence is really in-control behavior,” explained Johnson. “The perpetrator chooses who he is going to abuse. If I were out of control, I might beat my co-worker, or my boss. But I decided it’s going to be my intimate partner.”

Finally there is what Johnson calls the “Honeymoon Stage,” where the batterer goes on a mission of kindness and contrition to win their partner back. While the attempts may be sincere, Johnson said it is important each side seek separate assistance.

“The batterer needs to focus on the abuse. The survivor needs to focus on empowering themselves. After that, if reconciliation is possible, there may be counseling.”

To feel empowered, one first must be made aware that they are in an unhealthy relationship.

“You don’t choose an abusive partner,” Johnson said. “But you need to get information on how to stop a potential batterer. How to look for a healthy relationship.”

Survivors of domestic violence in the River Parishes can opt for non-residential or residential assistance, both are free of charge and confidential. Non-residential will provide them with private counseling in a confidential location, support groups with other survivors, some legal assistance, and referrals to organizations to get resources like food and money, as well as education and job training.

“We can’t tell them ‘don’t go back.’ We educate them about abuse, make them aware they’re in an abusive relationship,” Johnson said. “We tell them we’ll be here for you and empower you. Eventually, she gets the awareness and the courage to leave.”

A residential program will put a survivor in a shelter, whose location is not disclosed for the safety of the victim.

Johnson said the only hope for survival is to leave their jobs and their families and start a new life elsewhere.

“I’ve worked with (sheriff’s departments) a number of times to transport women out of the parishes at night,” said Johnson. “It’s a decision women have to make for themselves, many have not come to it yet.”

At the beginning of 2002, the Louisiana Coalition for Domestic Violence made it easier for survivors to get assistance by centralizing the toll-free number of the various programs which then routes to the correct region. The new number is 1-888-411-1333.

Johnson is on a member of the Community Action Center Board in St. John the Baptist Parish, and hopes the grant to educate teens about pregnancy will prevent incidents of domestic violence before they start.

“Before a teen gets control of her life, she gets pregnant. How does she empower herself?” Johnson recalled a 16-year-old girl she was counseling to get out of a “very abusive relationship.” When the girl was 17, she found out she was pregnant.

“With teens, love is going to solve everything,” said Johnson. “How do you show them that what they’re living in is not love?”