Living in fear

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A Hamilton woman who was brutally attacked by her boyfriend last fall says she feels unsafe now that he’s been released from jail.

When she was recovering from obvious injuries last September, Natalie Pavkovic let most of her circle think she’d been in a car accident. Then she came home to find someone had taken all the screens off her windows. So she took to social media to explain she had been beaten by her domestic partner.

“It was a six hour thing. It just didn’t stop. Until he fell asleep and I ran out the door the next morning.”

She was inundated with on-line support.

“You are safer talking about it, letting people know about your situation, than to stay in silence.” Det Tammi Ewart.

Domestic violence is one of the most prevalent reasons people call Hamilton police. But Pavkovic says she was really let down by the ensuing justice system. She didn’t know it before, but 33-year-old Michael Davies has been convicted of assault at least five times since 2001. On February 1st he pleaded guilty to the assault on Pavkovic, and was sentenced to 135 days, already served. Pavkovic had two hours notice before Davies’ release.

“That’s not fair at all. What do I do? They asked if I was safe. I said I hope so. Does it matter?”

Davies will be before the courts again in April, this time in Halton to face charges of breaching court-ordered conditions. Pavkovic says the order that forbids him from contacting her is only a piece of paper and doesn’t make her feel as safe as coming forward and sharing her story did.