LETTER: Press reporting with details of attack on wife ‘out of line’

To Ozaukee Press:

We need to be careful how we discuss victims of domestic violence. I am concerned about the amount of information disclosed in the article in last week’s Ozaukee Press regarding domestic violence and attempted murder in the Town of Grafton. 

I was surprised at the level of detail regarding the victim’s statements and the events that took place in her home. It felt like information that would have been revealed at a trial and not to a journalist. I hope and would expect that the victim would be informed of this publication and her consent obtained to publish these details. 

If this is the case she has every right to share and God bless her for her strength.  But if she did not approve this level of disclosure, it was out of line. We need to be careful as a community that we do not retraumatize people.

It would have also been an important opportunity to raise awareness that one in four women (across all socioeconomic groups) experience domestic violence in their lifetime and offering information on support and resources could have been useful. Advocates of Ozaukee is this type of resource.

Laura McKinnis

Grafton

Editor’s note: The story on the Town of Grafton man accused of shooting his wife and facing a charge of attempted homicide with bail set at $3 million was based on a criminal complaint filed in Ozaukee County Circuit Court by District Attorney Benjamin Lindsay — a public document that is accessible to anyone. Ozaukee Press believes accurate and detailed reporting on the court system is important not only because it informs readers about the crime occurring in their communities but sheds light on problems that need to be addressed — domestic abuse, gun violence and drug use, for instance — while giving them the information they need to make an informed decision about whether both victims and the accused are treated fairly by the court system. As for the letter-writer’s point about Advocates of Ozaukee, we agree the organization that operates a shelter for women and their children is an invaluable community resource, which is why Ozaukee Press has published numerous stories about Advocates, including one on its longtime executive director on the front of this week’s Good Living section.