SENATE MEMORIAL 55

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Mary Jane M. Garcia

A MEMORIAL

URGING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO APPOINT A TASK FORCE ON CHILD ABUSE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGED WITH DECREASING THE NUMBERS AND SEVERITY OF CHILD ABUSE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INCIDENTS, SAVING LIVES AND SAVING FAMILIES IN THIS STATE, WHERE CHILD ABUSE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ARE SO PREVALENT.

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is a state with an ancient and modern history of child abuse and domestic violence as commonplace; and

     WHEREAS, statistics are all but impossible to gather on the local costs and emotional and psychological impact of child abuse and domestic violence on those who suffer, survive and sometimes model the violence, leading to the perpetuation of child abuse and domestic violence into yet another generation; and

     WHEREAS, the increasingly common tragedy of killing of children is in the news; and

     WHEREAS, domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner or child; and

     WHEREAS, domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological, including threats of actions that influence another person such as behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure or wound someone; and

     WHEREAS, violent physical abuse in New Mexico of late has included murder and maiming of children as well as bruising and battering of adults who were once trusted allies of the perpetrator; and

     WHEREAS, often perpetrators of domestic violence were victims of domestic violence when they were too young, too weak or too disempowered to confront a perpetrator of domestic violence against themselves; and

     WHEREAS, the pattern established as domestic violence victims become perpetrators against others, who then become victims who are more likely to become perpetrators, is both tragic and destructive to health; and

     WHEREAS, the loss of lives of innocent children in domestic violence incidents is intolerable; and

     WHEREAS, the cycles of domestic violence and child abuse spell not only lost lives from murder but also lost promise from those who become addicts in order to wipe away the memories of suffering the violence; and

     WHEREAS, the loss to the community from domestic violence and especially child deaths can include the financial costs of treating victims and trying to prevent future violence as well as the emotional costs of loss of lives and loss of trust and innocence; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has been trying to cut the incidents of violence and minimize the attendant loss of financial, physical and psychological damage caused by domestic violence but has not been successful; and

     WHEREAS, it is absolutely necessary to stop the cycle of domestic violence and child abuse in a way that will reorient the perpetrator to the tragedy of the perpetrator's own experience and the tragedy of the harm the perpetrator has caused, to empower the victim to overcome the shock and loss of trust and confidence that results from discovering that a loved one means to dominate and injure the victim and to help individuals and families rebuild lives after the havoc wreaked on health, employment, education and psychological well-being after the domestic violence subsides; and

     WHEREAS, other states and countries have discovered some success in decreasing the impact of domestic violence by intensive intervention with a domestic violence perpetrator immediately upon arrest; and

     WHEREAS, both legal and social work can be used to slow or erase the tendency to reoffend; and

     WHEREAS, such remedies may require sizeable use of taxpayer dollars but are likely to save the state money over time;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council be urged to dedicate itself to focusing on means of solving the domestic violence and child abuse crisis in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislative council be urged to appoint a task force on stopping the violence that is the scourge of so many New Mexico homes; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force focus on preventing child abuse; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include staff from the children, youth and families department, the department of health, law enforcement, hospital or emergency room staff with experience in trauma treatment, a psychologist and a social worker as well as the governor's staff working on domestic violence issues; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force report to the New Mexico legislative council by October 2010 on its recommendations for structures to put in place to minimize, stop and prevent domestic violence incidents and their impact; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative council, the governor, the state's major hospitals and the secretaries of health and children, youth and families.

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