ABUSE IS STILL A CRIME

Domestic violence never has to end in murder but last year 12 victims were killed in Queens.
Years of alleged abuse by her husband, retired police Sergeant Raymond Sheehan, 49, allegedly caused Barbara Sheehan, 46, to snap and kill him inside their Howard Beach home on Monday, February 18, 2008.
Such may be the case in the alleged abuse of former City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate’s girlfriend Karla Giraldo late in December. Security cameras apparently caught the Queens State Senator-elect, who denies beating his girlfriend, dragging the scared, bleeding woman from his apartment.
The National Organization for Women New York State (NOW-NYS) is demanding answers from the New York State Democratic leadership. They feel that Monserrate, who is further accused of cutting Giraldo with a broken glass, does not deserve a seat in the New York State Senate nor his appointment as the chair of the Consumer Protection Committee.
Domestic violence is a crime. No person should be awarded a position of power while such heinous charges are pending. NOW-NYS has called upon Governor Paterson, Senator Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to take appropriate steps to address this problem, adding that if they do not, they are also guilty.
Giraldo first told a doctor at Long Island Jewish Medical Center that Monserrate had beaten her. Later she changed her story and requested that prosecutors drop assault charges. Sadly, this is typical pattern for domestic violence victims, who retract their stories in fear of retribution. The problem usually escalates; and the women do not fare well.
We feel that Monserrate should step down until his legal difficulties are adjudicated and the charges pending are prosecuted or he is exonerated.
NOW-NYS will be calling upon the women of the legislature to stand up to the leadership, and to demand that their colleagues take seriously this very serious crime of domestic violence.