By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Ohio is the only state where an abuser can strangle someone, and it’s considered a misdemeanor.
The absence of a strangulation statute is very troubling to Kathy Mull, director of The Cocoon, which provides services to domestic violences survivors in Wood County.
“It’s very common in domestic violence situations – yet we don’t have the laws to hold people accountable,” Mull said. “The state of Ohio is the last state in the country that does not have a strangulation statute.”
It’s not for a lack of trying.
Felony strangulation bills have been introduced in the state legislature in 2015, 2017 and 2019. Each time, the bills were supported by one chamber, but not by the other before the legislative session expired.
“So we have to start over again,” Mull said.
This year, advocates are back at it. This time the legislation is being co-sponsored by State Sen. Nickie Antonio, a Democrat, and State Sen. Stephanie Kunze, a Republican.
“We’re hopeful this year can be the year,” Mull said. “We’re getting a little weary of trying to get this passed.”
This past year, during the COVID pandemic, the Cocoon saw an increase in women reporting strangulation. Mull estimated the agency sees three or four incidents a month.
“It’s concerning that we are seeing an increase in reports,” she said.
The impact of strangulation is often downplayed because the injuries aren’t as obvious as broken bones or black eyes.
“Most of us think of strangulation as causing serious harm,” Mull said. But there is a lack of understanding of the act and the repercussions.
“It’s probably one of the most terrifying things,” she said.
And studies show that strangulation is a red flag to future violence. A study published by the National Institute of Justice in 2003 found that women who had been strangled by their partners were 10 times more likely to be killed by them.
“Strangulation is many times a precursor to domestic violence homicide,” Mull said.
The neck is extremely delicate, and it takes only 11 pounds of pressure to block blood flow to the brain, according to Dr. Bill Smock, a police surgeon and medical director for the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention.
Smock said being strangled for only moments can permanently damage blood vessels, cartilage, vocal cords, and the spinal cord. It takes just seconds longer for strangulation to cause blood clots, brain injuries, and strokes.
In less than a minute, an individual can be killed.
“It doesn’t take much to stop the air flow,” Mull said. Restricting blood and oxygen to the brain can have long-lasting effects – with some people never recovering fully.
“Hopefully over time it’s going to heal,” Mull said of the injuries. “But it can be a life sentence for them.”
But yet, Ohio law considers strangulation a misdemeanor.
“We’re sending the wrong message,” Mull said.
As the founder of the Northwest Ohio group called Standing Courageous, Paula Walters shares her experience of being strangled by her then-boyfriend in 2006.
She woke up in the hospital with lingering effects of a brain injury.
For 13 years, she suffered from extreme heart rates, dizziness, passing out, being unable to concentrate, and falling down. Loud noises were so distracting that she stopped eating at restaurants. In 2019, after a brain scan, she was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury from the strangulation.
Walters’ attacker pleaded to aggravated attempted menacing, and was sentenced to probation and a fine.
“I received a life sentence that night,” she tells first responders and fellow survivors in her speeches.
