Albuquerque Dangerous for Women and Girls?

Recent headlines would suggest that it is. Attacks on clinics that provide abortion services are up. There were two attacks last Tuesday at two buildings belonging to Planned Parenthood of New Mexico. The New York Times reports:

An arson fire damaged a surgery center the organization uses for abortions, and the windows of a Planned Parenthood family planning clinic 12 blocks away were smashed, the officials said.

Neither building sustained significant damage, and activities at both of them resumed Wednesday, a spokeswoman said.

The attacks came just weeks after the Albuquerque clinic run by a nationally known abortion provider, Dr. Curtis Boyd, was destroyed by arsonists on Dec. 6.

It isn't clear whether the attacks are related.

The small, tightknit group of abortion providers here reacted with a mix of shock and fear over the attacks. In 1999, the same Planned Parenthood surgical center was set ablaze. An ex-convict, Ricky Lee McDonald, who has a history of violence against New Mexico abortion clinics, was found guilty in that attack and sent to prison. [...]

The Planned Parenthood of New Mexico spokeswoman, Martha Edmands, condemned the recent attacks ... “It makes me really angry,” Ms. Edmands said. “It’s really upsetting that anyone would attempt to put any kind of doctor out of business.”

She said the group was revamping security measures when the attacks occurred. Protesters regularly picket the surgical center, she said.

Overall clinic violence is down.

A study issued last year by the Feminist Majority Foundation, which monitors attacks on abortion clinics, concluded that the most serious anti-abortion violence had declined since 1994, when federal legislation gave greater protection to providers and patients. According to the report, 18 percent of clinics experienced severe violence in 2005, compared with 52 percent in 1994.

Still, the report said, many clinics are still targets of extreme violence.

A second news report that gives cause for concern involves an Albuquerque girl jailed in connection with a rape case.

A victims' rights group wants to help protect a 14-year-old girl who was jailed this month for refusing to testify against the stepfather prosecutors say raped her in 2005.

The girl, who lives in Albuquerque, spent five days at the Juvenile Detention Center and was released Dec. 20.

Linda Atkinson, New Mexico Victims' Rights Project executive director, said she lodged objections with the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office over the treatment of the girl.

"They wouldn't do this to an adult woman. Why did they do this with a child? Because they could. That made me furious," she said.

Project attorney Melissa Stephenson said this week she was considering filing complaints with the Judicial Standards Commission and the State Bar of New Mexico over the actions of the judge and the prosecutors who wanted the girl incarcerated so she would give a statement that could be used at trial.

A young girl is raped by her stepfather. He very likely threatened to further harm her if she said anything, maybe even threatened others in her family. She must wonder who would believe her, or what kind of protection she could expect from the authorities -- if she can even comprehend it all.

The girl was arrested and booked into the Juvenile Detention Center on Dec. 16 after State District Judge J. Michael Kavanaugh issued a warrant at the request of the district attorney.

She failed to appear for her stepfather's rape trial in November. The trial has been rescheduled for April.

The girl was released from custody Dec. 20, but no statement was taken because Kavanaugh did not have time and no other judge was available, said Todd Heisey, deputy district attorney. [...]

The intent was "to get her in front of the court and impress her with the seriousness of this matter," Heisey said.

Are these guys kidding? They want to "impress her with the seriousness of this matter"? I would imagine she is fully aware of the seriousness, which is why she chose to protect herself in the only way she could probably think of.

On Dec. 19, prosecutors filed an emergency motion to review the defendant Manuel Quinonez's conditions of release because they believe he has "played an integral part in preventing the child from testifying."

In the motion, prosecutors cite two incidents reported in December by the girl to 911. She said her stepfather "had been at her home, hit her, threatened to return to beat her again and was intoxicated."

Prosecutor Rachel Bayless said she has to wait until Jan. 8 or later to have the motion heard by Kavanaugh. He's scheduled to return to his office Jan. 8.

Bayless said she wants the defendant taken into custody to protect the victim until his trial in April.

"I believe he's a danger to the child," Bayless said.

Stephenson predicted the case would attract national attention and increase support for victims' rights groups and child advocates.

"The national movement to protect victims is growing due to cases like this," she said.

Data indicates four out of five sexual assault victims of all ages do not report the crimes to police because they distrust the justice system.

The jailing of the 14-year-old will only add to that distrust and have a chilling effect on other victims, advocates say.

"It's so shocking what the judge has allowed. The power of the court was used to bully this child," Stephenson said. "The system is broken."

We must do all that we can to end violence against women and girls -- whether it's by family members, strangers, or the judicial system.