More Victims of Domestic Abuse Seeking Assistance : Violence: The increase is part of an escalation seen nationwide, according to the American Medical Assn.

Women with broken bones, black eyes and bruises are walking into Orange County shelters, hospitals and courtrooms in record numbers this year to report physical abuse by their partners.

Officials of an Irvine-based agency that assists victims of domestic violence handled 8,701 cases during a 10-month period ending May 31, 1992. That represents a 29% increase over the 6,734 cases recorded for the last fiscal year by Community Service Programs, which assists victims in obtaining restraining orders against their abusive spouses.

The escalation is seen as part of an increase in domestic violence nationwide, according to the American Medical Assn., which last week issued new guidelines advising doctors to routinely question their female patients about whether they have been abused.

An AMA study revealed that more than 4 million women are severely assaulted by their husbands or boyfriends every year and one in four women will be attacked by their partners at some point in their lives.

AMA officials said that while physicians have an ethical duty to intervene in domestic violence cases, surveys revealed that most of them do not. Orange County shelter directors say the association’s finding is consistent with their observation.

Community Service Programs Director Barbara Phillips said women seeking temporary restraining orders through her agency’s Domestic Violence Assistance Program have multiplied tenfold during the past decade to 3,259 this year. Many of the county’s shelters are full, some have waiting lists, she said.

Officials with the Sheriff’s Department, which routinely refers victims to Community Service Programs, said their caseload last year increased 22% to 1,422. As a result, more people are being prosecuted.

Municipal Judge Pamela L. Iles said that on some days she sees as many as five domestic violence cases in her Laguna Niguel court.

“We’ve seen a lot of wife beatings that had something to do with the bills piling up and the money running out,” Iles said. “But most of our defendants are working people. I believe the increase has to do with law enforcement and women being more educated about domestic violence. We had a lot of cases before, but we probably just didn’t see them.”

Iles and shelter workers say that in many domestic violence cases, the husband--or boyfriend--is also an abuser of drugs or alcohol.

“But there are no social barriers because doctors, lawyers, judges and janitors have used violence against their wife or girlfriend,” Iles said. “Only real men don’t beat their wives.”

Not only does lack of money shorten the abuser’s emotional fuse, but without jobs or affordable housing, many victims see no other choice and remain in the home with a violent spouse--sometimes even after a divorce.

Take, for example, a case that came before Iles two weeks ago involving Robert, 24, and his 25-year-old wife, Pamela--a South County couple with three children, ages 2, 1 and 3 weeks old.

A year ago, Robert pleaded guilty in court to beating his wife after an argument involving “financial reasons,” a police report stated. He was sentenced to a week in jail and three years’ probation.

Almost exactly a year later, the scene was replayed: Robert beat his wife on the head with his fist because she asked him to feed the two older children.

When Pamela tried to call the police, he ripped the phone off the wall, punched her in her right eye with a closed fist and called her a “fat (bleep).”

All this happened while Pamela was holding the 3-week-old baby. A police officer noted that Pamela’s right eye was swollen “two to three inches outward.”

In court, Robert pleaded guilty again. Iles sentenced him to 90 days in jail, three years’ probation, and ordered him to participate in alcohol and domestic violence counseling.

Iles said she attempts to preserve relationships, but “many times I feel it’s better for (the defendant) to be in jail than to worry about him being in the house and beating his wife and his kids up.”

Jail sentences and temporary restraining orders are not always effective. In recent years, several women have been killed by their partners while attempting to escape violent relationships, said Community Service Program’s Phillips.

Orange County shelter directors and battered women say they are concerned with doctors not intervening in domestic violence cases.

One 41-year-old woman, who did not want to be identified, said she went to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana earlier this month for blurred vision after her partner hit her across the eyes and in the back of her head.

She told the emergency room physician what happened. After determining she had no broken bones, the doctor released her and suggested that she see a doctor in a few days if her vision did not clear up.

Western Medical Center-Santa Ana spokesman John Boop said doctors are required to report suspected cases of domestic violence to police, but “if the lady has a concern about it, she needs to do something herself,” he said.

Dr. Walter Yury, a family practitioner in Buena Park for 30 years, said he sees only one case a year out of about 11,000 patients. “If you say you fell down, fine. . . . I’m not going to say, ‘Did your husband push you or did you have a fight?’ You have to take the patient’s word.”

An AMA survey released last week found factors such as time constraints, discomfort and fear of “opening a Pandora’s box” kept a majority of 38 primary case physicians in an urban health maintenance organization from going beyond mending the physical wounds.

Under the new guidelines, the AMA suggested doctors routinely question female patients whether their partners have physically attacked them, or threatened to, forced them to have sex, or restricted their freedom of movement.

If they give an unlikely excuse for an injury, doctors should consider the possibility of abuse. When a woman admits she has been battered, the doctor should discuss her safety before she leaves the office and offer her written information on legal options, counseling, shelters, crisis intervention programs and community services.

Outreach workers said they have had better success educating law enforcement officers than physicians about domestic violence. Christina Vogt, outreach director at the Women’s Transitional Living Center, said she sent letters to all north Orange County hospitals offering free training in domestic violence. Only 10% responded.

However, many doctors, nurses and dentists do intervene and are making referrals to the shelters.

One battered middle-age woman who had been beaten and abused for most of her 27-year marriage said her doctor was instrumental in giving her a new life.

The woman talked about her problems to Dr. Ruth Deerfield of Huntington Beach, who insisted she call a shelter from the doctor’s office. The shelter was full, but Deerfield insisted that the shelter find her a motel room.

Deerfield said she intervenes aggressively in domestic violence cases partly because she came from an abusive background herself.

“I tell them they don’t have to live like this. They deserve better.”

Domestic Violence Rising

Reports of domestic violence reached a four-year high in 1990, the most recent year for which information is available. At the same time, the proportion of reports in which weapons were involved rose from about two-thirds to almost three-fourths.

Total Weapon % with Weapon Reports Involved Involved 1987 67.5% 1988 70.7% 1989 71.4% 1990 11,451 8,338 72.8

County Rates Lower than State’s

Although total reports are increasing, the county’s rate per 100,000 residents has been decreasing since 1988. It has been consistently lower than the comparable statewide rate:

Orange County California 1990 472 651

And the increase in the number of reports from 1987 to 1990 is also higher statewide than in the county: Orange County: +4.5% Statewide: +7.7%

Other Vital Statistics

During the 10-month period from July 31, 1991, through May 31, 1992, this picture of domestic hostility emerges in Orange County:

* Domestic violence calls on the 24-hour hot line: 8,701

* Newly identified victims: 3,342

* Demographic breakdown: 3,017 women; 325 men; 316 older than 55

* Number of children living in those homes: 4,897

* Temporary restraining orders filed with victims’ assistance: 3,259

* Number referred by law enforcement: 2,015

* Number referred by hospitals: 9

Victim Assistance Hot Line

The 24-hour hot line for those seeking help with a domestic violence problem is (714) 973-0134. Information on protective orders and 24-hour counseling is available in both English and Spanish.

Sources: California Department of Justice; Community Service Programs, a nonprofit, countywide organization

Researched by LYNN SMITH / Los Angeles Times