A few year ago, Lassandra Latorre and other social workers from the Department of Human Services in the United States Virgin Islands strongly advised a domestic violence victim against taking in her abusive partner.
She didn’t listen. Four days later, he slit her throat with a knife, killing her.
This domestic violence case is among many that social workers in this territory and the USVI have to face in the course of executing their daily duties, Ms. Latorre told a room of about 20 social workers, police officers and court personnel on Thursday at Treasure Isle Hotel during a two-day Domestic Violence Sensitisation Workshop.
Ms. Latorre and Michal Rhymer-Brown, assistant commissioner of human services in the USVI, facilitated the workshop.
The session was designed to advise attendees on how to effectively treat victims and abusers.
Domestic violence cases can be emotionally draining, the facilitators explained.
“We have to keep sensitising ourselves. When you work with domestic violence, you sometimes get a little desensitised,” Ms. Rhymer-Brown said. “We have to recognise the pain and the stress. As long as I know I still feel pain hearing of domestic violence cases and watching the videos, I know I am okay.”
See the June 26, 2014 edition for full coverage.
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