On the morning of Oct. 6, the City of Bath woke up to the news that Lisa and Jennifer Bailey had been murdered by Michael Bailey (Lisa’s husband and Jennifer’s father). The whole state is once again reacting to a domestic violence homicide. (Days earlier a man in Bangor killed his ex-girlfriend after serving several years in prison for almost killing an ex-wife. And just weeks before that a man was shot by police on the bridge in York County after murdering his wife and 8-year-old son in New Hampshire.)

As I join my home community in outrage and grief, the question comes again, “What can we do to stop this?”

The State of Maine does have an intervention designed to address domestic violence abusers: Certified Domestic Violence Intervention Programs or CDVIP. Worldwide experts have long described this as the preferred intervention for domestic violence and the State of Maine has had a statute encouraging this response in place since 2018, but it doesn’t fund it.

Men who abuse (and murder) their female partners do not do so because they are angry; they “snap” or they just can’t control themselves. (This is obvious if you’ve ever seen police footage of a domestic violence arrest; the victim looks terrified and hysterical, and the perpetrator, although he may have been screaming and threatening his partner moments before, is seen calmly explaining to law enforcement that the victim is “crazy” and “overreacting.”)

Men who abuse and murder their female partners do so because, on some level, they believe they have a right to control how she talks, who she talks to, what she wears, how she spends money, what job she has, how she thinks and, ultimately, who she is and whether she lives or dies. These beliefs are often mysterious and only semiconscious to the men who hold them. These are exactly the types of beliefs that CDVIPs systematically and carefully work to uncover with domestic violence abusers over the course of the year-long educational program. (Perpetrators participate while under the supervision of probation, which has tools to hold them accountable if they fail to participate.)

CDVIPs are recognized here in Maine and the world over as the appropriate response to domestic violence–related crimes. But here in Maine, even with the state law, there are currently three counties without any CDVIP available. The programs closed due to lack of funding. Sagadahoc and Lincoln counties haven’t had a program since July. And York County has been without a program for over a year now. That means that people who are arrested and sentenced for domestic violence–related crimes are facing fewer consequences in those counties and, importantly, have fewer opportunities to change and become nonviolent.

If the State of Maine really cares about ending domestic violence, we need to be working with the people who are choosing to use violence against their partners in their homes. It’s not good enough to provide victim services and say, “I hope he just hurts someone else.” Because he will. Victims and survivors do not need to change, abusers do.

If we are serious about working with abusers to get them to change, then we need to support the programs designed to do just that. And support for these programs means that we need to pay for them. Why should survivors across the county line in Cumberland County deserve more safety than the women in Sagadahoc or York counties?

Why isn’t the State of Maine funding these vital programs?

Courtney O’Brien, of Bath, is an international expert and consultant in men’s violence against women and intervention programs. Locally, she taught in and coordinated the largest CDVIP program in the state for over five years.