MARY WINSLOW MOVED TO NEW HAMPSHIRE NINE YEARS AGO.
SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS ESCAPING A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE.
SHE'D BEEN MARRIED FOR FIFTEEN YEARS TO AN ABUSIVE HUSBAND IN WASHINGTON STATE.
I was 36 years old and I got on a greyhound bus with a cardboard suitcase and here I am. //. It was like leave Washington or die. I had to go as far as I could so I came here.
SHE PUT HER KIDS IN SCHOOL, GOT A JOB, AND GOT A NEW LEASE ON LIFE.
THEN SHE MET A GREAT GUY.
THE MAN WOULD BECOME HER SECOND HUSBAND.
13 53 he was like the perfect gentleman, he paid for the gas, opened my car door, the kind of stuff they don't do anymore, and he was protective and kind and all that
BUT SOON, PROTECTIVE TURNED INTO CONTROLLING.
THEY BOTH DRANK TOO MUCH.
WHEN HER HUSBAND GOT DRUNK, HE got mean.
WINSLOW SAYS HE THREW HER DOWN.
PUNCHED HER.
PICKED HER UP BY HER HAIR.
WINSLOW IS A TALL, STRONG-LOOKING WOMAN, WITH AN INTIMIDATING ARRAY OF TATTOOES DOWN BOTH ARMS.
SHE FOUGHT BACK.
ONCE SHE PUT ONE OF HIS TEETH THROUGH HIS LOWER LIP.
BUT SHE WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO OVERCOME HIM.
AND SHE WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO LEAVE.
I've been through it so much and so long before, and my childhood wasn't the best, I look back now and it's all I knew. I didn't like it, I didn't like being there, I hated it, but it's all I knew.
SHE STAYED WITH HIM FOR FOUR YEARS.
ODDLY ENOUGH, IT WAS AN INFANT WHO SAVED HER.
WINSLOW DOTES ON HER GRANDSON.
WHEN HE WAS BORN, SHE DECIDED SHE NEVER WANTED HIM TO SEE HER DRUNK.
SO SHE JOINED A.A. AND GOT SOBER.
Well my ex didn't like it, he didn't have his partying buddy anymore. And he got loaded one night and looked at my grandson who was about 4 mos old, it was Christmastime, and he said he's nothing but a f***ing retard and he shouldn't be allowed to live. And that was it.
WINSLOW HAD GOTTEN A RESTRAINING ORDER ONCE BEFORE AND DROPPED IT.
THIS TIME SHE WAS MAD ENOUGH TO MAKE IT STICK.
A VICTIM ADVOCATE IN THE COURT SYSTEM HELPED HER TAP INTO COUNSELING AND OTHER SERVICES.
NOW MARY WINSLOW'S EX IS IN PRISON, AND SHE'S A VICTIM ADVOCATE HERSELF.
SHE WATCHES WOMEN STRUGGLE WITH SOME OF THE SAME PROBLEMS SHE HAD.
The lack of transportation. these women have no money, no vehicles, no jobs.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE A CAR IN A RURAL AREA, IT'S TOUGH TO GET TO COUNSELING, OR A.A. MEETINGS, OR COURT.
WINSLOW USED TO GO ON FOOT, BUT THAT'S RISKY.
ONE NIGHT SHE WAS ABOUT TO WALK HOME FROM A MEETING WHEN A FRIEND OFFERED HER A RIDE.
AS THEY DROVE OFF, SHE SAW HER EX-HUSBAND SITTING IN A PICKUP TRUCK, RIGHT WHERE SHE USUALLY WALKED.
ADVOCATES SAY SOME ABUSERS DELIBERATELY MOVE THEIR PARTNERS TO RURAL AREAS TO CUT THEM OFF FROM MASS TRANSIT AND OTHER SERVICES.
SARAH COPPS IS WITH THE WOMEN'S INFORMATION SERVICE, WHICH PROVIDES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SERVICES IN THE UPPER VALLEY.
A man could move his family to the country and not get a phone. // If one of the cars falls apart and suddenly there's no phone and he goes away every day and she's home alone and he's threatened her, and she feels she's not safe or her children aren't safe, she feels alone, and its very effective.
FURTHERMORE, A WOMAN IN A SMALL TOWN MAY BE RELUCTANT TO COME FORWARD BECAUSE OF HER HUSBAND'S CONNECTIONS.
GLENDA KAUFMAN KANTOR IS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE'S FAMILY RESEARCH LAB.
everyone knows everyone. And so that may make women feel that its not possible to escape, that its pointless to report violence.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HAS RECENTLY COME TO THE FOREFRONT IN BERLIN.
POLICE CHIEF PETER MORENCY started to ANALYZE THE CALLS HIS OFFICERS WERE answering.
HE FOUND THE DEPARTMENT GOT A COMPLAINT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE NEARLY EVERY DAY.
THAT'S OVER THIRTY CASES FOR EVERY THOUSAND RESIDENTS.
IT'S TOUGH TO COMPARE THESE STATISTICS ACROSS THE BOARD, SINCE POLICE DEPARTMENTS DON'T ALL CLASSIFY CRIMES THE SAME WAY.
BUT DURING THAT SAME TIME, CONCORD AND LACONIA EACH AVERAGED IN THE NIEGHBORHOOD OF 19 CALLS PER THOUSAND.
ONE THING IS CLEAR TO MORENCY, THOUGH.
HIS OFFICERS SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THE PROBLEM.
AND THEY DON'T HAVE A LOT TO
SHOW FOR IT.
About a quarter of our budget is spent on domestic violence. And a lot of it is just a revolving door. We go back once a wk, once a month.
IF BERLIN DOES HAVE A HIGH RATE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, NOBODY'S QUITE SURE WHY.
MANY RURAL AREAS LACK THE SOCIAL SERVICES TO DEAL with THE PROBLEM.
But BERLIN SEEMS TO HAVE A PRETTY STRONG SUPPORT SYSTEM.
HOWEVER THERE'S CLEARLY SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC UPHEAVAL GOING ON HERE.
THE JOB MARKET HAS BEEN ROCKY.
PROPERTY VALUES ARE LOW.
FAMILIES HAVE BEEN MOVING AWAY TO LOOK FOR WORK.
AND CHIEF MORENCY SAYS SOME OF THE PEOPLE MOVING IN MAY BE ADDING TO THE EXISTING PROBLEMS.
A lot of unemployed people, a lot of alcohol and drug abuse, which is another characteristic of abusers, and it just continues to climb.
MORENCY HOPES UPDATING THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S METHODS WILL help.
HE'S APPLYING FOR GRANTS TO HELP HIS OFFICERS WORK WITH AGENCIES IN THE AREA.
HE WANTS TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE WHO REPORT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE GET SERVICES.
HE ALSO WANTS TO ADOPT A POPULAR APPROACH CALLED VICTIMLESS PROSECUTION.
003 03 in which we go forward with charges whether the abused wants us to or not. When we're called there will be ramifications for the abuser.
ADVOCATE DONNA CUMMINGS IS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE CHANGES.
CUMMINGS HEADS RESPONSE, AN AGENCY THAT COMBATS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THROUGHOUT COOS COUNTY.
SHE SAYS THESE APPROACHES HAVE BEEN TRIED ELSEWHERE, AND SHE'S OPTIMISTIC THEY'LL HELP HERE.
in different parts of country they've been working on best practices, what really works with families. The grant hopefully will bring people together to offer that to the north country, rathter than a bandaid approach.
FORMER VICTIM MARY WINSLOW SUPPORTS THE CHANGES TOO.
BUT SHE'S WORRIED ABUSERS WHO FACE PROSECUTION COULD TAKE THEIR ANGER OUT ON THEIR VICTIMS.
SHE HOPES POLICE WILL BE ABLE TO PROTECT PEOPLE GOING THROUGH
THE PROCESS.
MEANWHILE SHE'S HAPPY SHE CAN DO HER PART TO HELP PEOPLE FACING THE KIND OF VIOLENCE SHE'S SURVIVED.
I like it on this end a lot more. I like this.
WINSLOW IS MAKING PLANS TO GET THE TATTOO OF HER HUSBAND'S NAME REMOVED FROM HER SHOULDER.
SHE HOPES TO REPLACE IT WITH THE NAMES OF HER THREE GRANDCHILDREN.
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