Richland County Commissioner Tim Wert encouraged people who attended the kick off to domestic violence awareness month to be good examples of people in healthy relationships to others and children.
“We need to teach children to respect themselves and their spouses,” he said. “I charge each one of you to be a good example.”
Wert and other town leaders gathered downtown Tuesday at the downtown gazebo to bring awareness to domestic violence.
“Domestic violence affects 25 percent of women and 10 percent of men in intimate partner relationships,” said Kathy Ezwa, executive director of The Domestic Violence Shelter. “Some would say that domestic violence is a woman’s issue…Others think this only happens to other people, not to (them). The statistics would indicate that there are many of you out there today who have directly experienced intimate partner violence in some way – both male and female.”
Patricia Harrelson, executive director of Richland County Children Services, shared a harrowing statistic with the crowd.
“Every nine seconds a woman is abused in the United States,” she said. “That was about 100 women while I was just standing here. But when we talk about statistics, we have to remember that they are human beings.”
Harrelson commended a group of young men, ages 13 to 24, called Men of Strength (MOST) Club, who attended the kick off.
The MOST Club, founded by Herbert Ross, in 2008, is a group of young men who attend the IMAC School and want to stand up against violence against women.
“We want have young men stand together to say enough is enough,” he said. “I commend these young men for standing up and being accounted for. We need better role models for young men.”
Mansfield Police Chief Dino Sgambellone said over the past three years, the number of domestic violence incidents and disputes has declined.
“In 2011, there were 1,336 domestic violence incidents or disputes,” he said. “That’s roughly three to three and a half per day. This represents your neighbor, your co-worker or your family member.”
In 2012, there were 1,245 incidents, Sgambellone said. In 2013, there have been 827 calls to date.
“It’s because of the collaborative in the community,” he said of the declining numbers. “We can’t arrest our way out of this problem. It really takes the whole community pulling together.”
Mansfield Police Officer J. Mark Perry was honored with The Shelter’s Advocacy Service Award for his service in helping victims of domestic violence.
Jeanne Pitzer, director of the victim’s assistance program at the Richland County Prosecutors office, said her office handles 40 to 45 cases of felony domestic violence a year.
She introduced Kimberly Williams, who came to the event to spread awareness that her stepfather, who killed her mother and grandmother, would be up for parole soon. She asked the people in the crowd to sign a petition, hoping it would help keep him behind bars.
Williams was 13-years-old when her stepfather, Dale Carver, shot and killed her mother and grandmother and wounded her uncle and siblings.
She gave frightening details of what her life was like as a child, having been abused by her step dad and witnessing her mother being abused.
“It took me years to be able to heal from this tragic time in my life but I had to do it and work on it to heal and fix me,” Williams said. “I could not have done it without God.”
The Domestic Violence Shelter Crisis Line can be reached at 419-774-5840.
