Co-chairs: domestic violence task force already helping

CHICAGO CITY HALL (WBBM Newsradio) -- The elected leaders behind a new task force report on domestic violence said their work is already bringing results, but more needs to be done.

Members of the joint Chicago-Cook County Violence Against Women Task Force began presenting their findings Thursday during a City Council committee meeting, following six months of testimony from advocacy and survivors.

"Victims' voices have been very instrumental in guiding the work," said Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, who co-chaired the task force with Chicago Ald. Silvana Tabares. "These are our neighbors, these are our family members, these are our friends, whose lives have been irrevocably altered or lost."

One of those survivors, Sarah Brown, spoke to reporters at City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., before Thursday morning's hearing before the City Council Public Safety Committee. Her effort to protect herself and her children from an abusive partner has been in court for more than nine years, and in front of seven different judges.

"It is a very lonely experience," Brown said of the challenge in seeking justice, which she said included filling out a 30-page report and being forced to sit in a courthouse hallway, potentially in sight of her alleged abuser or members of their family. "I have never in my adult life had to fight for someone just to hear me."

More than 26% of all homicides in the area are reportedly domestic-related, and Ald. Tabares said the task force's work has already sparked a 100% increase in delivery of domestic orders of protection ... leading in part to a 53% drop in domestic-related murders this year.

"These are lives saved and justice delivered," said Ald. Tabares (23rd Ward).

But advocates said more work needs to be done to reduce barriers that can prevent victims from seeking help, including streamlining the reporting process and making an accused abuser's past record more accessible to judges.

"Today, we are bringing it into the light," said Brown.