Domestic violence fatalities to be subject of October summit

By Paul Takahashi (contact)

Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010 | 3:10 p.m.

The Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence will sponsor a Domestic Violence Fatality Review Summit in Las Vegas on Oct. 1.

The day-long summit will be held at the Suncoast Hotel Casino, 9090 Alta Drive. Featured speakers include Dr. Neil Websdale with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence against Women, Matthew Dale with the Montana Attorney General's Office and Jerald Monahan, the police chief at Apache Junction, Ariz.

Nevada has ranked as one of the 10 states in the nation with the highest rate of female homicide by men during each of the last 10 years, according to the Violence Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that researches gun violence.

Nevada ranked first in the nation in 2005 and 2006 in the rate of women killed by men, according to the VPC. In 2007, the latest data available, Nevada ranked fifth, with a rate of 2.23 homicides per 100,000.

"These findings alarmingly demonstrate how domestic violence can escalate to homicide," said VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand in a press release that announced the results last year. "More resources need to be made available to protect women and prevent such tragedies."

The 2010 VPC study on homicide data from 2008 will be released in late September.

For more information about the Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence, visit www.nnadv.org. For details about the summit and to register, visit the Nevada Attorney General's website at www.ag.state.nv.us.

Registration forms must be submitted by Friday.