Sade Sanchez (24-years old) was taken from this world too soon when her abusive ex-boyfriend shot her five times, while she was walking with her mother, Cynthia Santos and a friend. This happened on Sunday, October 7th at 10:30 p.m. on St. Nicholas and Menahan streets.
Sade Sanchez had filed numerous police protection reports against Gabriel Rivera, her killer. She had left him the first time he became physically abusive. She had done all that was within her power to protect herself.
“We are failing victims of domestic violence,” said Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez at the vigil held for Sade, two days after her death. “Her death was preventable.”
The numbers of orders of protection recorded in the NY State protective order registry reached a 5-year high according to a 2017 study from the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study in July 2017 that showed over 51% of women were killed by a current or former romantic partner. A national statistic that seems to be on the rise as those stats were 40% in 1993 and 45% in 2007.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the first comprehensive piece of legislation passed to end violence against women, will expire on Dec. 7. Not one republican currently in the House of Representatives has supported its renewal. Election Day is November 6th, so this may change if Democrats take the majority.
The Greenline 