Former Miss Washington backs domestic violence bill

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Former Miss Washington and Wapato native Elyse Umemoto is partnering with the state Attorney General's Office to support a domestic violence bill that would enhance penalties for repeat abusers.

Earlier this year, Umemoto made public that she was a victim of domestic violence during her reign as Miss Washington 2007.

Now, in the middle of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the 2001 Wapato High School graduate will attend a news conference Tuesday morning to announce her support for proposed legislation. Joining her will be State Attorney General Rob McKenna, state legislators, prosecutors and victims' advocates.

"In Washington state, repeat car thieves are punished more harshly than repeat domestic violence offenders. I think that indicates a sort of flaw in the system," Umemoto said in a phone interview Saturday. "We're trying to ensure Washington is a safe place for victims and survivors."

The bill, written by the Attorney General's Office, died in committee during this year's legislative session. A bipartisan group of legislators has pledged to support a new version of the proposed law during the 2010 session.

"Serial domestic violence offenders pose an unacceptable threat to our communities," McKenna has written on his Web site. "For years victims and their allies have complained that our state requires more severe punishments for serial car thieves and drug dealers than for serial domestic abusers."

The Legislature passed the Domestic Violence Prevention Act in 1979, iden-tifying domestic violence as a "serious crime." The law is "intended to provide maximum protection from abuse for victims of domestic violence."

The Sentencing Reform Act was enacted in 1984, establishing prescribed prison sentences for offenders. But it's not enough, according to McKenna, who assembled a domestic violence advisory committee two years ago. The task force maintains that sentencing rules for repeat abusers "have proved inadequate because they do not require judges to take into account the previous misdemeanor domestic violence convictions of the most dangerous offenders."

Last May, Umemoto -- who finished as second runner-up in the 2008 Miss America pageant and championed diversity and women's issues during her reign -- told the Yakima Herald-Republic she was privately living "a double life."

"If this can happen to me -- I was almost Miss America -- nobody's exempt," she said at that time.

Less than two weeks after the Miss America pageant and halfway into her reign as Miss Washington, Umemoto filed a report with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, claiming her ex-boyfriend -- whom she had dated in college at Pacific Lutheran University -- had physically assaulted her in her Tacoma apartment.

According to the report, the Feb. 8, 2008, assault was one of several incidents, going back to early 2007. Three days later, on Feb. 11, 2008, a deputy photographed swelling to the left side of her lower lip, a bruise under her chin, three bruises to her right shoulder, and more bruises on both of her arms and knees.

Charges were filed and her ex-boyfriend -- whom Umemoto asked not be named -- pleaded guilty in Pierce County Superior Court to a reduced domestic violence charge of fourth-degree assault, as well as a related charge of third-degree malicious mischief.

On April 22, 2008, he was sentenced to 240 hours of community service and two years probation.

"At the end of the day, after my struggle with domestic violence, I felt very defeated," Umemoto, now 25, said Saturday. "It's not like anyone wins or loses in domestic violence. But I felt so defeated."

Throughout the rest of her reign, she continued to champion women's issues and empowerment, often spotlighting her multiracial background: American Indian, German, Latina and Japanese.

These days, she's speaking out about domestic violence, which -- according to figures from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence -- one in four women will experience during her lifetime.

The numbers might be higher, according to Umemoto.

"Domestic violence is severely under-reported. So that reflects only the women who come forward, which is very scary," she said.

Since she made her own
struggle public, Umemoto said, "people have been
coming out of the wood-work."

She's been contacted by local and national media, victims' and advocacy groups, and shelters as well as the Attorney General's Office.

"People are really compelled because I'm not the 'typical victim,'" Umemoto said. "There's no such thing as a 'typical victim,' and that's the point we're trying to get across."

Because of her "wild work schedule," Umemoto -- who moved to Las Vegas following her reign as Miss Washington -- will be arriving in Seattle on Monday morning, doing a series of media interviews, then flying out Tuesday night.

"So, sadly," she said, this time, "I won't be visiting the Valley."

She's pursuing modeling and acting, and plans to compete in November in the Miss Nevada USA pageant. It will be her first pageant since competing at Miss America nearly two years ago.

Meantime, she says she will continue speaking out against domestic violence and advocating for harsher penalties for repeat abusers.

"It's not easy to get up and relive it," Umemoto said. "Every time I get up to tell my story, I'm still hesitant. I still get anxious and nervous. There's something in me that says, 'Hey, be careful. He's still out there watching. He knows what you're doing. He's going to see this. People are going to see this.'"

But, she said, after sharing her story, "I no longer felt my attacker had won. I didn't feel defeated anymore. I was given my voice."

And, "My voice was so powerful."