You continue to hear about the tragic death of Jessie Davis , the pregnant Ohio mom, but did you know that homicide is actually a leading cause of death for pregnant women?
We used to worry about maternal mortality during childbirth, but now with advances in medical care, that's no longer the case. Patti Seger, Executive Director, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence , says the real issue now is domestic violence, and it's more common than you might think.
"Domestic violence continues to be an epidemic in Wisconsin and nationally. Somewhere between two- and four-million women are battered annually in the nation."
Seger says there are around 30-thousand arrests each year in Wisconsin for domestic violence. She says, unfortunately, pregnancy offers no safeguard against physical abuse.
"While we sometimes believe that pregnancy is sort of a sacred time in somebody's life and they certainly should be subjected only to all kinds of special and nurturing treatments, for some women who are in abusive relationships pregnancy may be a time in which violence actually escalates."
Seger says, in the Badger state between 2000-2004, there were two pregnant women who were killed, along with their unborn babies.
A well-known case of such abuse is that of Tracy Marciniak , of Mosinee, who was brutally beaten by her then-husband in 1992, just four days away from her due date. The central Wisconsin woman recovered and later went on to help promote Wisconsin's Fetal Homicide Law.
- Homicide is a leading cause of death for pregnant women
- Domestic Violence is more common than you might think
- Reducing domestic violence is the key to reducing homicides
- Changing the way we think can help to eliminate domestic violence
- Typical victims, abusers of domestic violence are not typical
AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report (1:38 MP3)
