How do we deal with men in our communities who hurt the women in our community? And I’m not just talking about our physical communities like our neighbors or relatives. What of those who claim to represent us in public office.

I wrote about my discomfort surrounding the NYC State Senator Hiram Monserrate case when charges first surfaced against him, accusing him of attacking his girlfriend. It feels complicated for me on multiple levels. Monserratte was my local council person and he is my local state senator. That never has stopped me before. That wasn’t it. I had dealings with Monserrate before he was involved in electoral politics, when he worked with the Latino Police Officers Association here in NYC and he and his organization stood with the Latino families of those killed by police brutality and us organizers. As a Latina who has dealt with domestic violence both personally, politically, and professionally, how did this man whom I identified as a defender of the community suddenly become an attacker?

I watched with horror as the Monserrate case unfolded via the local media. As if the allegations that he had beat up his girlfriend and then cut her face with glass weren’t bad enough, there were videos that showed him pretty much dragging his girlfriend out of the building where the couple lived. My mother and I would discuss the case and we were both disgusted. Monserrate was acquitted on the serious felony charges but found guilty on lesser misdemeanor assault charges. This allowed him to keep his state senate seat. He still faces some jail time.

I am less concerned with the political moves of the local Democratic party in my hood. I’ve learned that electoral politics is electoral politics and it doesn’t really matter that much who is in office. Monserrate sponsored a local event recently that helped to give out free school supplies to kids in my hood. I stood in line and collected free supplies for my kid, pero I’m pretty sure that whoever was in office would have done something like that and free school supplies doesn’t make or break my support. Pero how you treat the community does. I am not a fan of the criminal justice system and how it treats the men and women in my community. I am not convinced that the way domestic violence is handled in the criminal justice system takes care of the women or men of the community. I would like to see actual community members, like my vecinas who know me and my children by name play a role in how domestic violence is handled. what would this look like though?

Image Via / Gothamist