The Ripple Effect in Bull City: C. Dewayne Hinnant
photo by Jasmine Williams
October is Domestic Violence (sometimes called intimate partner violence) Awareness month, a time of particular focus on the varied and lasting impacts of abusive relationships.
Unfortunately, the wide-reaching effects of domestic violence are common: reportedly, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
As remedy to the significant cost of violence on individuals and society, author C. Dewayne Hinnant offers The Ripple Effect: Lasting Affects of Domestic Violence, an exploration on the permeating effects of violence in our communities.
What does “domestic violence” mean?
While domestic violence can be thought of as a nebulous term, it can be defined as a purposeful erosion of the mental and physical health of another person for power and control within a relationship.
What inspired you to write this book?
Working for the Mayor’s Domestic Violence Task Force is what made me want to be an advocate, and having friends and coworkers who were in domestic violence relationships were the inspirations for this book.
How does The Ripple Effect: Lasting Affects of Domestic Violence explain how violence impacts a larger community and can affect more than just one household?
My book goes into detail about generational curses and how domestic violence has a specific pattern. It details the pattern of seeing abuse and the damage caused by accepting abuse. Domestic violence has a tendency to be passed on to the survivor’s children and grandchildren’s relationships. Abused children tend to either get into new abusive relationships with an intimate partner or spouse, which can, ultimately, bring instability to a community.
How is the cycle of violence perpetuated?
The cycle of violence is perpetuated through ignorance and misinformation and toxic relationships, which often lead to violence.
The entertainment industry can play a large part in spreading toxic relationships; they still portray toxic relationships as healthy in rom-coms. This industry romanticizes toxic love as a love story, but they are far from love. Take the movie Twilight for example. I know some people will believe it’s a classic love story, but I see it as a classic abusive relationship.
Abuser are predators. They operate from a position of power and control, and according to the lore, vampires are the most vicious predators. Edward is a 100-year-old vampire dating a teenager who has limited life experience. Bella has low esteem and is anxious in a new environment. Edward is unapproachable, emotionally distant, and a popular person in school. He exhibits possessive traits, jealousy, and manipulated Bella using a method of divide and conquer to isolate her from her family and friends. She runs away from her father’s house, moves in with Edward’s family and is forbidden from seeing Jacob. Completing the process of isolation, Bella becomes pregnant, tying her to Edward forever.
There is still a lot of misogyny and exploitation of women in the music industry, and then there is the objectification of women in the gaming industry. The government also plays a big part in the cycle of domestic violence - how sexual assault laws are written and how abusers are often given light sentences or not held accountable, while consent is sometimes being called into question. That’s a gray line.
What actions as a community can we take to break the cycle of violence?
As a society, we need to address the stigma we place on domestic violence survivors - shame and blame is often placed on a survivor and not on the abusers. When called for questioning, women are often victimized again and not believed by responding officers or even friends and family.
As a community, we should educate children on healthy relationships. Lying, cheating, and ups-and-downs are not a normalcy. We can involve men in teaching boys how to respect girls. Girls and boys should be educated on what is acceptable and healthy when it comes to relationships. This will create a foundation to build on if we are serious about eradicating domestic violence.
What should an observer of abuse do in a situation?
The first thought is to physically intervene; however, it may not be the most safe option. There have been numerous times when a victim has attacked others, including law enforcement, who have tried to protect them from abuse. Other times an abuser has attacked or killed a person providing aid.
Abuse varies in its forms, but the one thing that is certain about domestic violence is that it always escalates. We may think of helping by intervening on the victim’s behalf, but this can actually make the abuse worse for the victim, unless they leave at that very moment.
The safest thing to do as an observer is to educate that person on domestic violence resources and to contact local law enforcement, and, if it is known the victim has a good relationship with their family, inform the family.
With sources reporting as much as 40% of families, it is suggested the likelihood of experiencing physical abuse or domestic intimate partner violence is two to four times higher in law-enforcement families when compared to the general population. Does your book offer explanation as to why that number trends so high within the police community?
To answer this question, you have to think about the type of mentality a person has to have to walk into conflict and run into gunfire. To knowingly walk into harm’s way.
Now add to that mentality the training that police officers are given: the way police are trained, you comply with the orders they give you, or there are consequences. Their job often uses aggressive tactics and imprisonment.
How do you turn that off? They’re not trained to turn it off. Most are not taught conflict resolution as a priority; they could be taught to gain control of a situation by force if necessary, and I believe the 40% you’re speaking about take this into their personal lives.
How can the process of investigation affect the outcome of a trial?
Many cases of violence happen within a private setting, and survivors may fear retaliation in pressing charges or testifying. There are sometimes no witnesses or only a few witnesses, so gathering evidence could become difficult. Changing the way restraining orders are issued and monitored; enforcing mandatory counseling for abusers; and making readily available more resources for housing, transportation, and childcare for a survivor can help here.
Most victims won’t even leave because an abuser controls the purse strings and they don’t have access to funds. It will take a combined effort to fix this issue - funding and changes in laws for a difference to be made.
How does the Domestic Violence Task Force differ from our local police?
The Mayor’s Domestic Violence Task Force was a community organization created by the Human Relations Department of The City of Durham. Police are reactionary - they aren’t necessarily for prevention. Where the DCPD only enforces laws pertaining to domestic violence, assault, rape, etc., the Task Force was a combined effort between different agencies and community outreach programs to bring awareness and education on domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and human trafficking to the public. We had representation from the police department, the Sheriff’s department, the D.A.’s office, Neighborhood Improvement, church groups, and mental health professionals.
Without the Task Force, what resources are still available to victims?
I would advise anyone who is in or leaving a violent relationship to seek medical attention for physical trauma endured throughout the relationship, and I would advise the survivor to seek attention for their mental health as well. Over time, survivors can be conditioned to live a certain way - paralyzed by fear - the abuser uses that as a mental trap. It produces insecurities, self-esteem issues, and dark thoughts.
The main resource available nationwide is the National Domestic Violence hotline, and their telephone number is 1-800-799-7233. In North Carolina, we have the NCCADV and their telephone number is 919-956-9124. In Durham, we have the Durham Crisis Response Center.
Unfortunately, resources are limited, and based on where you live, there may only be one domestic violence shelter in your county. Sometimes the information is very hard to find.
There is an emergency plan outlined in my book.