More than 40% of fatal Workplace Violence incidents begin as…
It happens to Anyone…Any Time… Anywhere… For any Reason
Written By: Robert D. Sollars
…Domestic violence (DV). That may seem preposterous to you, but it’s even worse than that. Think about the number of people you may personally know, or hear about innumerable incidents of DV you hear about on a daily basis within your community
(such as the incident in Scottsdale, AZ yesterday, 11-11-2020). Whether those incidents are broadcast in the media as something else… you’ll never know unless it’s someone close to you.
No one can definitively know if those incidents you hear about will spill over into the workplace, but it really doesn’t matter. It will have a chilling effect on both the community & organization. No matter the size of it, from a small community of professionals to the larger overall metropolitan area you live in. It affects everyone that is even remotely close to the victim.
The actual statistic that I have is 40% of workplace violence (WPV) incidents begin as DV. Just because the number may rise or drop a bit, it has been as high as 49%, doesn’t necessarily mean that you are less likely to die at work due to a DV incident. Your chances are still the same…50/50.
The supposedly logical & reasonable excuses you may have for your chances being lower are that you don’t know any DV victims or that you don’t work close enough to anyone who is a victim. In that, you are 100% wrong…
Usually, if DV spills over into the organization, it doesn’t usually stay contained to just the intended victim, especially if the intent is murder. They’ll take out their anger on whoever may be around the victim, and that could be you.
In their eyes, the people who are in the way, legitimately or not, are trying to keep him from his property that he has to punish for some perceived slight or oversight. I’ve said it countless times, what the perpetrator perceives to be their reality is reality and no one will dissuade them from it. Delusional? You betcha, and there is nothing any of us can do about it.
You will notice that one term I used above is reprehensible to most people when describing a victim. Property of the perpetrator. But that is what the perpetrator believes. The victim is their property to do with as they see fit. Order to work for them, fetch them food, cigarettes, drugs, or booze, have sex when they want it, or do whatever. The major difference between abusive relationships and BDSM or similar? These relationships are violent to the extreme in causing abuse and injury. From physical, mental, psychological, and emotional.
A report from the Barrows Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ. in September 2017, that as many as 5% of all DV victims have suffered a concussion with many of those having a permanent injury. Mental loss, debilitating seizures, loss of coordination, and other examples of someone who has suffered severe head trauma.
Then there is the phrase “those standing in my way”. To the perpetrator, anyone who is in the way of stopping them from entering the facility is assisting in keeping their ‘property’ away from seeing them, and it doesn’t matter who it is, from security officers to the receptionist to their besties. Even if it is procedure and policy, they are stopping them from seeing and murdering them. They won’t stop until they see them…even if they have to murder dozens to get them.
So, what can we do to help prevent DV and raining fire and brimstone upon innocent victims? Here is a shortlist of what YOU can be done;
- if you see the victim begin shutting down emotionally after being open and having fun and friends…
- not stopping to chat or possibly holding their heads up any more
- physical injuries on their bodies such as bruising, welts, and etc. and blaming themselves for being “so damned clumsy”.
- report anything like this you may see to management, security, or police
According to the company, legal & HR, these are about the only things you can do albeit morally, ethically, and legally, you may be able to do a lot more. But it is obvious that something has to be done in this country to curb DV where ever it occurs.
With DV resulting in more than 40% of all WPV incidents beginning this way, it is imperative that we attempt to stop it from entering the organization. How do we do that?
#1 sees some being abused in a store, parking lot, or other places? Report it.
#2 hears someone screaming for help while possibly in pain? Report it
#3 hears slapping sounds after an argument or worse gunshots? Report it.
#4 even thinks someone is being abused in one way or another? Report it.
If you report possible abuse then you have fulfilled a part of your obligation as a human. Unfortunately, after that, the bureaucracy takes over and you may never know what happens to the potential victim. You watch the news one night and see the television reporter telling you about a WPV incident started by a DV perpetrator, with no inkling of…anything else.
I May Be Blind, but My Vision Is Crystal Clear
Permission to share? Of course, with full attribution.
Copyright 2020 Robert D. Sollars
