Agency Head Discusses Domestic Violence

February 28, 2011
By Richard E. Baldwin

LOCKPORT — One of every four American women will suffer some form of domestic abuse, often emotional manipulation, at some time in their lives, Mary Travers Murphy said Sunday.

Murphy added that the problem of domestic abuse is more widespread than sometimes thought because only one in every seven cases is reported to authorities. She addressed about 25 people at a talk sponsored by the Social Justice Committee of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 168 Chestnut St.

Murphy, former Orchard Park town supervisor and a former television consumer reporter, is executive director of the Family Justice Center of Erie County, which provides free, confidential services for victims of domestic violence and their children.

She said 9,200 complaints of domestic abuse were reported in Erie County in 2009, the last year for which statistics are complete. She added that 25 people have been murdered in domestic violence in the last three years in Erie and Niagara counties.

She pointed out that domestic violence is not limited to adult couples and that teenagers involved in close relationships also can become victims. She said the Family Justice Center serves people regardless of gender, race, age, culture, marital status, sexual orientation, immigration status or disability at its main office at 237 Main St. in downtown Buffalo and at its satellite office in Orchard Park.

Murphy said the center hopes someday to open a satellite office in Erie County’s Northtowns. Her organization does not currently serve Niagara County, but she said other organizations and services are available to victims in Niagara County.

She explained that the Family Justice Center in Buffalo was established in 2006 as a one-stop location to provide advocacy for victims, plan for their safety, help to get orders of protection and provide forensic medical services, counseling and civil legal help, among other services.

Noting that predators make many victims feel that the victims themselves are responsible for their abuse, Murphy said: “One of our first tasks is to assure the victim that they have the right to their own opinion, because most perpetrators are master manipulators who can make a per-son feel guilty for their own victimization.”

Saying that it is difficult to escape from domestic violence, Murphy said, “It typically takes eight attempts for a victim to leave an abusive relationship, because he or she keeps returning to the abuser.”

Even if the victim returns, Murphy said, the Family Justice Center keeps an open file on the case and welcomes the victim back as many times as necessary until a satisfactory outcome can be achieved.

Among the cases she cited in her statistics was the murder of Aasiya Zubair Hassan on Feb. 12, 2009, at the Orchard Park television station she operated with her husband, Muzzammil “Mo” Hassan. He has been convicted of second-degree murder and is to be sentenced March 9.

Murphy was introduced Sunday by Michael Boron, director of St. John’s Outreach, a church-based organization whose mission is: “Helping people in our community.”