Abusers often target female partners at work

The fatal shooting Monday at Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago highlights a sobering reality about workplace violence: Women who are killed at work are commonly targeted by intimate partners.

Forty percent of women who died as a result of workplace violence in 2016 did so at the hands of domestic partners or relatives, compared with 2 percent of men, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Men, who represented 82 percent of the 500 workplace homicide victims last year, are most commonly killed by robbers.

Mercy emergency room physician Tamara O’Neal had reportedly broken off her engagement with the gunman, Juan Lopez, a few months before he confronted her in the hospital parking lot Monday and shot her multiple times. Officials say Lopez subsequently went into the hospital, where he killed a police officer and a 25-yearold pharmacy resident.

Mary MacLaren, chair of the Workplace Employee Assistance Program Task Force for Chicago Says No More, an advocacy group that works on domestic violence and sexual assault issues, said she had a sinking feeling when she heard the news that the perpetrator may have been the doctor’s ex-fiance.

“That’s the most dangerous time, when the person tries to get out of (the relationship),” she said.

MacLaren’s task force works with businesses to create cultures where employees feel comfortable talking about these issues with management.

“There is a lot of shame and embarrassment associated with domestic violence,” she said.