Absent from the recent public safety debate is a frank discussion of strategies to address domestic violence, or gender-based violence, even though an alarming number of women have been killed after seeking assistance from the Cook County court system.
The past few years have been terrifying for women. Violent crimes and sexual assaults have been skyrocketing, while arrests and clearance rates by police have gone down. Victims brave enough to come forward are waiting years for justice, while those charged with victimizing them are released back into our communities.
Domestic violence is five times more likely to affect women than the most prevalent communicable disease in Chicago. Black women in particular are being victimized. Last year, nearly 80% of those killed were Black; 1 in 4 crimes were committed against Black women.
The appalling clearance rates for assaults against women are a direct result of the absence of a comprehensive, protective program.
Exacerbating matters is the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail and included other nonsensical provisions aimed at deterring the detention of suspects of violent crime. The flawed legislation allows for discretion in gender-based violence cases.
This discretion is provided without much data being collected or shared. The courts hide behind an archaic law that........