MANSFIELD – Every nine seconds, a woman in the United States is assaulted or beaten.
It’s a harrowing statistic, and one brought firmly to the forefront of people’s minds at Monday’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month kickoff in downtown Mansfield.
Sponsored by The Domestic Violence Shelter, the annual event marks October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and works to shed light on the county’s constant fight against this problem.
“Although it’s hard to believe this happens in our community, we want to convey that help is out there,” said Shelter Director Kathy Ezawa.
Staff members at The Domestic Violence Shelter shared that annually, there are 10 million reported victims of domestic abuse throughout the country – one in three women, and one in four men. On a typical day, domestic violence hotlines nationally field approximately 20,000 calls. Domestic violence makes up 16 percent of all violent crime.
“The Richland County Domestic Violence Collaborative is working to begin an aggressive awareness campaign that addresses ways to not only end domestic violence in our community, but bring more awareness to the issue in Richland County,” Ezawa said.
Commissioner Gary Utt presented a proclamation from the Richland County Board of Commissioners officially declaring October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Richland County. He noted the formal declaration each October allows the community to acknowledge and show their support for domestic violence victims.
“The effects of domestic violence reach far beyond its victims and perpetrators, causing disruption in our schools, places of work and worship, and neighborhoods,” Utt read. “Home should be a place of warmth, unconditional love, tranquility and security…tragically, for many Americans these are blessings that are tarnished by violence and fear.”
Not only are the lives of domestic violence victims permanently affected by such a heinous crime, but often the first responders are left with psychological scars. Ezawa noted that for the Mansfield Police Department, domestic violence calls are the most dangerous calls they respond to. Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker echoed her concern.
“We have to remember to support our first responders,” Theaker said. “They’re out on the front line against domestic violence. And we have to thank and support The Domestic Violence Shelter.
“Awareness is not just one month,” he continued. “We need to battle domestic violence 12 months of the year, and not just October. We need to bring it to the forefront of everybody’s minds.”
According to Mansfield Police Deputy Chief Keith Porch, the department routinely seeks federal grant funds to assist in the fight against domestic violence, and employs Detective Matt Loughman with the sole duty of investigating and following up on domestic violence.
“He normally handles annually 800 cases he has to follow up on for domestic disputes and domestic violence,” Porch said of Loughman. “He has an extremely heavy case load and we’re proud of the work that he’s done with that position.
“Our officers see domestic violence daily,” Porch said. “It’s not only a struggle to go to those calls and go through the traumatic events the victims go through, but they see that and live that and have to take that home.”
Another person on the front lines fighting domestic violence in Richland County is Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page. She stated on Monday that she observes the vast majority of individuals involved in violent crimes have a history of domestic violence.
“One way we need to help prevent domestic violence is to change the way we talk about relationships,” Couch Page said. “Through the month we hope to spark conversations about healthy relationships, and we want to encourage everyone…to proactively engage in dialogue that promotes safety, respect and equality.”
Couch Page said preventing domestic violence starts with effective intervention, especially victim-focused services, partnerships and collaboration, offender accountability and community accountability. This includes two community organizations present on Monday, MOST: Men of Strength, and WISE: Women Inspiring Strength and Empowerment, both of which work to understand healthy relationships and stand up to say enough is enough.
“As a community we have to start talking about this, educating others, and sharing what we know about domestic violence in order to reduce and hopefully eliminate the problem,” said Couch Page.
