Original Story from WALB in Albany GA: http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=12926687

Women arrested for domestic violence against men

Posted: Aug 04, 2010 4:03 PM CDT

By Jim Wallace – bio | email

ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Two Albany women were arrested for attacking men in domestic assaults overnight.  One of the men is still hospitalized.

Law enforcers and advocates say women abusing men is nothing new,  but some cases are becoming more violent.

Veteran law enforcement officers say they have seen women abusing men in family and domestic relationships for years, but often men are too embarrassed to report it.  They say when violence escalates and weapons are used, there is no hiding the troubling crime.

Albany Police arrested 41 year old Marilyn Brown, after they say she either shot or stabbed Quincy Thomas about 12:30 Wednesday morning at her home on North Davis Street. Thomas is in good condition at an Albany hospital.

29 year Shauntay Johnson was also charged with aggravated assault after investigators say she stabbed her brother in law, Oslander Dean Junior in the arm with a pair of scissors. He was not seriously injured. Law enforcement officials say women abusing men happens more than you might think.

Dougherty County Police Chief Don Cheek said “Family violence crosses all lines. It is not a respecter of race, gender, economic status. Anybody can be victimized.”

Liberty House Abuse Shelter Executive Director Silke Deely today trained Albany Police officers on how to deal with domestic violence cases. She says she sees more violence by both men and women, but men are much less likely to report the abuse because of embarrassment.

Deely said “What are they going to say about him. Why don’t you stand up to some wife. Why aren’t you taking care of business. You are not a man.”

Deely said young boys are taught not to hit girls, but she is seeing more women who have been encouraged to violence.

Deely said “If somebody hits you, what are we telling them. Well you need to fight back. Don’t let anybody do that to you. I think there is a misinterpretation of how that needs to occur.”

Cheek said “We are seeing nationally, in trends over the last few years, is more and more violent women offenders.”

Police are receiving training to deal with domestic violence, because advocates say the long time bad economy and high unemployment are causing more violent incidents in families.

Domestic violence advocates say men are often the victims of emotional, psychological, and physical abuse from women, but they say too often the abuse is never reported until someone is injured.

The Liberty House does not shelter men, but they urge male abuse victims to ask for help. They can call the state domestic violence hotline at 1-800-334-2836 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1-800-334-2836      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1-800-334-2836      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Georgia Legal Services provides legal help to domestic violence victims. You can learn more about them by linking to their website, www.gcadv.org

• As of May of this year, Albany Police worked 842 domestic violence cases. That number is down a little from the 909 cases they worked this time last year. That’s down just over seven percent.

©2010 WALB News. All rights reserved. Feedback