Alvarez Hopes Focus On Domestic Violence Leads To Better Services For Victims
(CBS) -- Cook County's top prosecutor says she hopes the focus on domestic abuse due to problems in the NFL brings changes for victims here, reports WBBM's Nancy Harty.
It is too soon to tell if the stories of domestic abuse by professional football players are prompting more local victims to come forward, according to Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.
"I cannot force women to prosecute their domestic violence abusers but I can tell you that my office is doing a much better job of encouraging and supporting our victims," Alvarez said.
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One of those victims is Margaret Jefferson, who says she decided to drop charges against her then-boyfriend seven years ago when she learned she was pregnant.
"Because ultimately I did not want my son's father to be locked away from his son," she said. "I wanted my son to know who his father was."
Jefferson would eventually leave his boyfriend, but a year later he stabbed her and pushed her out of a second story window before murdering their three-year-old son.
Alvarez says she hopes the increased attention means more money for services for abuse victims.
"Maybe there will be more money coming forward to support some of these women so that they have shelters to go to, so they have social service providers," she said.
