Another murder of a woman in front of her child highlights a growing problem in New Orleans.
City Council Vice President Helena Moreno said Sunday, "The number of women being murdered in the streets of New Orleans hasn’t been this high since 1996, when we had 70 thousand more women living in New Orleans.
She also said that women are increasingly victims of other crimes.
"Domestic violence advocates are seeing a sharp increase, like never before, in the severity of violence they’re seeing against women."
NOLA.com reports that at least the five mothers have been shot in the past five weeks in New Orleans and eleven women have been murdered in New Orleans this year.
There have been at least three cases just recently where a small child was present when their mother was shot.
Moreno said, "I do not know the motive behind recent killings, but national data and studies show that more than two-thirds of mass shootings are domestic violence incidents or are perpetrated by shooters with a history of domestic violence."
She says based on that the city needs stronger and more consequential results when offenders who commit serious acts of domestic violence.
The council vice president said that strategy could prevent further and graver acts of violence.
"Aggressively going after these offenders will not only make families safer but also make our city less violent as a whole."
She issued some specific plans:
-Worked with Health Department and New Orleans Family Justice Center to significantly increase funding for services for DV victims.
-Committed to DA additional funding for additional staffing in the DV unit.
-Working with DV task force of stakeholders on a variety of recommendations, including recommendations for court commissioners who handle first appearances and bond.
Moreno feels that currently domestic violent offenders in New Orleans are not facing the full extent of the law.
"One thing that is clear is that some Orleans commissioners are reluctant or refuse to do Gwen’s Law hearings which hold a DV offender without bond until a contradictory hearing can be held. Roughly 150 are held in Jefferson Parish every month but far fewer in Orleans. I’m calling for and willing to work with commissioners so that they understand the necessity for these hearings and greatly increase the number of these in Orleans."
She also wants to see stronger enforcement of current gun laws.
"We must also STRONGLY go after anyone who is prohibited from having a firearm, that includes felons and those with domestic violence charges and convictions. These individuals can be reported to law enforcement anonymously by calling Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or the ATF at 1-800-ATF-GUNS."
She is calling for Crimestoppers and others to bring forward a public awareness campaign.
"I’m very much aware that some of the things I’m proposing are a bit out of the box, but we must also see that the issues of severe family violence and severe violence in our streets are all interconnected. Much more to come on all this. I continue to keep in my prayers the victims slain in our streets, along with their families…their small children, left behind," Moreno said.