In this episode, we speak with survivor, Rosaura Torres Thomas, author of the book: Abuse Hidden Behind the Badge—a memoir of her life living suffering from the abuse and coercive control of two police officers–one a highly ranked Officer in Philadelphia and, another–a Pennsylvania state trooper. Our guest, Rosaura, suffered two (2) retinal detachment surgeries stemming from her experiences with domestic violence and has since become an avid activist speaking out against domestic violence and more specifically “The Code of Silence” within police departments. My conversation with Rosaura explores not only the impact domestic abuse and coercive control had on her, but also, the impact and lasting effects it has had on her children.
Listeners may recall that In Episode 4 of en(gender)ed, we spoke with Ruth Glenn, CEO and President of the NCADV about rates of domestic violence and how certain groups of people commit higher rates than others. National trends show that law enforcement professionals are one such group. Two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence in contrast to 10% of families in the general population.
Below are some resources about police and domestic violence:
- National Center for Women and Policing’s “Police Family Violence Fact Sheet“
- An Atlantic article entitled, “Police Have a Much Bigger Domestic-Abuse Problem than the NFL Does“
- The “Abuse of Power” website which has resources about police domestic violence for survivors and families
- A HuffPo article entitled “The Super Predators: When the Man Who Abuses You is also a Cop“
- A research article estimating the rate of domestic violence perpetrated by law enforcement
- A USA Today article entitled, “Domestic abusers: Dangerous for women and lethal for cops.”
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