Most of us are raised to never hit anyone, especially a woman. Not everyone listens.

For those who wish to press charges against abusers, CourtWatch, a victim advocate and volunteer group, is there to help.

Domestic violence charges are increasing in DeKalb County, which means these cases are beginning to become more of a priority in the court system and in the Sheriff’s office because of the pile-up, said Amanda Schrems, an NIU alumna and coordinator of Safe Passage’s sexual assault program. .

“We can’t always work with the court system with so many different cases and so many different types of crimes,” Schrems said.

CourtWatch is a local volunteer-run victim advocate group headed by Genoa resident and president Barbara Samulowitz. The group started after Samulowitz was dissatisfied with the manner in which intimate-partner violence cases were being handled by male judges in DeKalb County. Women at times were asked what they had done to provoke an assault, if they had been romantically misleading their abusers and, at times, were only granted emergency orders of protection (that last a maximum of two weeks) if a judge did not deem the complaint worthy enough.

In some situations, orders of protection are even denied, Schrems said. The term ‘intimate-partner’ violence encompasses domestic violence as well as romantic and relational violence that occurs between people who do not cohabitate.

Volunteers with CourtWatch attend sexual assault and intimate-partner violence hearings and act as both supporters of victims as well as observers of judges’ behavior. CourtWatch members take personalized notes on judges and send back the results so that judges have individualized reports of how they could improve their demeanor in these cases.

“In a sense, these cases were being put on the back burner, but not completely forgotten,” Schrems said.

Carrie Williams, assistant director of the NIU Women’s Resource Center said students may already feel discouraged from pressing charges due to cultural myths that often put the victim at blame. According to Hopeforhealing.org, some of these include perspectives that defend an assault depending on the woman’s clothing or blood alcohol content as an excuse. Others are that if the victim doesn’t fight back, it’s not rape and that husbands can’t rape their wives.

“They may potentially feel a sense of revictimization if cases aren’t handled with a survivor-centered attitude,” Williams said. “It is despairing when cases are dragged out. Nationally, I would say victims suffer a lot of backlash from their peers and community over these things.”

In DeKalb County, there are two female judges, of which only one works primarily with criminal cases. This means all other sexual assault cases are seen by male judges from a mostly female-survivor standpoint. These discrepancies in perspectives to intimate-partner violence can become lessened through participation in CourtWatch as well as mandatory domestic violence training, said Linda Moser, executive director at Safe Passage.

“[Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Associate Judge William] Brady tries to be as fair as possible,” Shrems said. “Is it good enough? No, but at the same time he’s not God.”

Schrems and Williams agree that the presence of someone to advocate for survivors is essential for a positive outcome for victims as well as maintaining a survivor-centered approach to these cases.

“Having someone to assist in attending these cases hopefully helps to outweigh the discouragement they may feel,” Williams said. “Even we at the WRC will attend as well as walk through the healing process.”

As of Oct. 28, there have been 39 cases of relationship violence including harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking and inter-personal violence reports to the NIU Police. However, national statistics show that many cases go unreported.

Schrems said anyone who may be hesitant to file charges should contact Safe Passage at 815-756-5228. Clay Campbell, DeKalb County State’s Attorney has also publicly made himself available for anyone in need of assistance or wanting to talk.