Content area
Full Text
THE ANSWERS TO 11 QUESTIONS MAY BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH.
SUMMARY
The Lethality Assessment Program partners law enforcement personnel and domestic violence service providers in an effort to identify and assist victims of domestic violence who are at risk of being killed. The Lethality Assessment screen is a questionnaire that contains a series of 11 questions. These questions are used as a tool by law enforcement to determine a victim's potential for being killed by their intimate partner. A specified combination and quantity of "yes" answers to the questions on the screen will alert an officer to the severity of the danger a domestic violence victim faces.
Asking the right questions can make all the difference in most situations, but some counties are finding it can mean safety for domestic abuse victims. Domestic violence dif- fers from other assaults because of the emotional bonds between the victim and assailant, which make victims hesitant to take legal action against their tormenters. Re- searchers hope, however, that a series of questions posed to victims by investigators will spark a realization that what happens to them is a deviation from normal behavior and trigger a call for help.
"Victims tend to think their situations are unique," said Megan Fisher, assistant district attorney for Johnson County, Kan. "They think, 'He's not usually like this when he's sober.'"
The questions include asking whether the abuser has threat- ened bodily harm. "When a police officer reads questions like that aloud, there's a point where people realize that it's so common that there are routine questions to address it, it's time to do some- thing about it," she said. "It opens their eyes and that's why it works, in my opinion."
The questions are called the Lethality Assessment Protocol and consist of 11 standard questions, though some agencies may add more. The 11 questions were developed by the Maryland Net- work Against Domestic Violence.