Officiallythick

Former Ventura County Sheriff Deputy and DV Victim turned away by local coalition

Posted on 05 Jun 2011 by admin | Filled under: uncategorized

In search warrant documents, Ventura police Detective Sarah Starr stated that Perez and Valenciana had numerous domestic violence incidents during their 18-month relationship, and “domestic violence may have played a role in Perez’s death.” Starr said she observed bruises on Valenciana’s wrists, forearms, biceps, thigh and shoulder when she interviewed her March 2.For two years, Valenciana was verbally and physically abuse by her fiance, Robert Perez, Jr. Valenciana began dating Perez in September 2007, about two months into the relationship, Perez was arrested following a domestic disturbance that involved a women from a prior relationship that led to a standoff with Ventura police. Sheriff’s officials ordered Valenciana to cut ties with Perez after her own violent encounter with Perez and the police were called to her home in April 2008.

Violence is very common with law enforcement personnel and predominately are male offenders and the victims are the wives or girlfriends of police officers. Valenciana said she was embarrassed about being abused because she was a peace officer, and she feared that even if she left Perez, he would follow her.

Shame is very common with many if not all domestic violence victims and what is surprising is that the Ventura County Sheriffs Department had no obvious workplace violence training on what appropriate intervention steps could have been taken to ensure Valenciana’s safety and job security. No one should ever be in jeopardy of being fired from their job because of being a victim of violence. It’s just not ethical or moral and the shame Valenciana worried about was already placed upon her by her own employer.

During the relationship, Valenciana apparently reached out to the Coalition to End Family Violence in Oxnard for help and advice and was told that they were not interested in helping her; apparently thinking that a woman who appeared capable of defending herself from her attacker could not be a victim of domestic violence. Maybe now they will realize that women who appear strong on the surface, women in professions that are traditionally male dominated, like police officers or firefighters can be abused. The Coalition knows this to be a fact. It doesn’t matter what socio-economic status a woman comes from, abuse is abuse. These Coalitions are Federally funded by the Department of Justice and receive grants to help women who are victims of domestic violence, they had no business turning Valenciana away or denying her services because she was a peace officer. If these Coalitions are getting grants, where is the money going? Who is holding these organizations accountable for their actions?

In a previous article one organization stated “its rare, however, for a district attorney to not file charges in a case involving a woman suspected of killing her abuser, said Tara Shabazz, executive director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. “I would like to believe it has to do with them really looking at the context of violence, and that’s what we would like prosecutors to do,” Shabazz said. What about how Valenciana was turned away when she reached out for help? The CPEDV never made a statement about that. Who is going to go on record and take responsibility for that? The CPEDV’s reputation is known to advocate for the offenders of violence instead of the victims of domestic violence and the partnership is also federally funded. I haven’t found an organization in Ventura county that actually helps victims of violence and this seems to be the trend lately, more and more victims are coming forward with their complaints. If these organizations can’t help victims of domestic violence, then close your doors and allow other organizations who are helping dv victims get the funding they need to continue their help. By turning victims away, you are signing their death sentence.