We can’t turn blind eye to domestic violence

By the time most Americans get home from work today, eat dinner and settle into bed, 53,000 women and children will have fled their homes because of domestic violence.

Another 7,700 will not be able to find help and three will be dead by midnight. The same thing will happen again tomorrow and the day after – and it will go largely unnoticed.

Domestic violence affects families across the nation – women, men and children. Of all adult victims, 85 percent are women. Nearly 2 million women in the United States are battered every year, and 1 woman out of 4 is assaulted sometime during her life. And tragically, 15.5 million children per year are witnesses to domestic violence.

We remember the 1,200 women per year that are murdered by their intimate partners. We also acknowledge the impact of the Violence Against Women Act, which provides services and support for women and men who have been victims of intimate partner crimes and has helped remove the stigma associated with domestic violence.

Please join us in taking a stand against domestic violence: Coordinate a fundraising drive, volunteer your time or make a donation.

Contact your state domestic violence coalition or a domestic violence program in your area to see what you can do to end domestic violence in your community.

Sue Else

president

National Network to End Domestic Violence

Washington, D.C.

Electrocution grounds for remedial training

Re the Oct. 10 story, “Report: faulty wiring caused boy’s electrocution at Reid Park“:

There is no reason for this to happen. According to the electrical code, all metal shall be grounded. The lid of this handhold (to the junction box) should have had a ground strap attached that would have provided the path to ground it needed to trip the circuit.

The city needs to take a good look at its contractors and provide some oversight and quality control. The men and the electrical administrator of this company are responsible for public safety and they have failed. Pull their tickets and send them back to National Electric Code classes. Then they can take their tests over and maybe do a better job.

B.J. Mader

Fairbanks, Alaska

U.S.’ illegal immigrants are Mexico’s deserters

I have a question for immigrants: Why is Mexico an unfit place to live?

The president of Mexico is doing a great job trying to turn things around, but he needs much more help from the people who love their country. Immigrants who come to the United States illegally are deserters who make things worse for Mexico and the U.S.

You may call this immigrant bashing, but I call it facing the truth. Our immigration laws are correct.

Ed Sattler

Phoenix

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Opinion. Tags for this post: Letters, Opinion-Letters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.