SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO-AM) Sioux Falls is reeling from two cases in one week of brutal violence against women.
"Probably the last two months we've had more violence in the community than is normal. I'm not sure what's going on," says Michelle Markgraf, Executive Director of the Compass Center in Sioux Falls, on the frontlines of the fight against violence against women.
A Sioux Falls man has been accused of a savage scissors attack against his ex-girlfriend pregnant with his child, and then another local man has been accused of abducting in broad daylight a 15-year-old girl walking from Lincoln High School and eventually raping her.
Markgraf says this new violence adds to the need for people to do a better job of stepping in when they see something crazy or suspicious.
"It's o-k for people to stop and make sure that somebody is o-k and not to be afraid to do that or think you are going to hurt somebody's feelings," says Markgraf arguing for more "bystander intervention."'
Markgraf says most violence against women involves a person the victim knows, so this abduction of the high school girl by a stranger is extremely rare. Markgraf says as Sioux Falls keeps growing bigger, we have "growing pains" as well.