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CBS News
12-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
How front line doctors, health workers seeing domestic violence survivors help break the cycle of abuse
The first 24 hours after a domestic abuse incident have been found to be critical for survivors, their ability to get help and get out of the abusive situation. That front line response often falls to a team of doctors, hospital workers and community activists when law enforcement and the courts can't get them help fast enough. Those responders say they often see abuse victims on a repeat basis. "We have seen patients who've come here with one injury and the next time they come, they don't make it," said Dr. Anne Stey, a trauma surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "And so that's a reality." RELATED: New protections for domestic violence victims in Illinois now in effect under Karina's Law Stey said she has seen domestic violence incidents grow significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020. "Violence often becomes a language that people start being exposed to in the home, sometimes from a very young age, and then it is recreated when they create their own families," she said. "And it can even bleed out into the community, and it can ultimately be the cause of a lot of the community violence that we can see." Stey is part of the hospital's first response to domestic violence cases. Outside of the emergency room, she does research on ways to break the cycle for her patients. Studies show survivors of intimate partner violence are more than twice as likely to return to the ER within 30 days, which is why Stey says the follow-up matters just as much as the first response. She said poverty and unemployment are among the strongest predictors of domestic violence. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, women in households earning under $25,000 a year face abuse at three times the rate of those with higher incomes. Unemployment increases the risk of domestic violence by more than 30%. Daisy Vega works alongside Dr. Stey as Northwestern Hospital's violence intervention coordinator, helping survivors access resources like a safe place to stay, or victim compensation funding up to a year after their hospital stay. It's a critical time to help them escape any ongoing danger. "Unfortunately, with the work that I do, some people are like, 'I was meant to get shot at some point,'" she said. "And that's just the life that they think they are going to have." Gwen Baxter has herself lived with domestic violence, at a time, she said, when resources were scarce. Now she works with Acclivus, an Illinois state program that partners with six hospitals to help connect survivors to everything from housing to food and legal aid. The hospital-based programs can reduce the risk of reinjury by up to 60%, according to the American College of Surgeons. "And if they just know they got that type of support system, they become strong, you know," Baxter said. "They see outside of that relationship because some of them feel like they're in too deep." This team works not just to heal wounds, but to give hope. "They're afraid all the time," Stey said. "Having these opportunities, knowing they're not going to be on the street, knowing that they're going to have enough food for their family, knowing that they're going to be able to, you know, if their attacker comes after them that they're going to have legal recourse to prevent that person from hurting them or their family, is incredibly important." More than 12,000 victims of violence have turned to Acclivus for help during that "what's next" period after an incidence of abuse.
CBS News
12-05-2025
- CBS News
New protections for domestic violence victims in Illinois now in effect under Karina's Law
New protections for victims of domestic violence are now in effect in Illinois under Karina's Law. The law requires guns to be removed from the home of an accused abuser when their victim is granted an order of protection in a domestic violence case. Police must confiscate the guns from an accused abuser within four days of a judge issuing an order of protection. The law is named after Karina Gonzalez, who police said was shot and killed by her husband in a Little Village neighborhood apartment in 2023. He is also accused of shooting and killing the couple's daughter, Daniela, and shooting and wounding their son, Manny. Manny Gonzalez is a fierce advocate for the new law. He had a message for his late mom on Mother's Day. "An immigrant mother from Mexico who worked dead-end jobs and survived an abusive husband will now go on to save the lives of other domestic violence victims," he said in a video. "Your name, Mom, outlives the man who spent his life trying to break you." Karina Gonzalez's husband, Jose Alvarez, has been charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
