SAFE, County Commissioners Recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Aly Delp

Aly Delp

Published October 13, 2020 4:45 am
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CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) — Representatives from SAFE (Stop Abuse for Everyone) and the Clarion County Commissioner’s office stood together on Monday in recognition of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM).

(Pictured, left to right: Front: Angela Alcorn, SAFE Bridge House Manager; Laurie Snyder, SAFE Shelter Advocate; Wayne Brosius, Clarion County Commissioner; Chris Vincent, SAFE Administrative Assistant. Back: Ed Heasley, Clarion County Commissioner; Linda Trojak, SAFE Legal Advocate)

A planned display in honor of the month was briefly set up on the Clarion County Courthouse lawn before windy weather conditions interfered. The display was sponsored by SAFE, a non-profit agency that provides a number of services to individuals dealing with domestic violence in Clarion County.

Despite tremendous challenges, domestic violence shelters, like SAFE, serve nearly 70,000 victims in one day alone, according to the latest National Network to End Domestic Violence Domestic Violence Counts. More than three out of four domestic violence survivors who sought support groups, counseling, supportive services and legal advocacy found these services to be “very helpful,” the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and the University of Connecticut School of Social Work reported.

According to SAFE Bridge House Manager Angela Alcorn, SAFE’s shelter counts are down so far this year, but that is actually a cause for some concern.

“We believe it’s because, with people out of work in the shutdowns, the victims are not able to leave their abusers as they usually would.”

In the majority of cases, victims escape their abusers while the abuser is at work, making a shutdown a more difficult time for those dealing with domestic abuse, Alcorn noted.

Despite some reduction in shelter counts, domestic abuse continues to be a real problem in our local area, Chris Vincent, SAFE Administrative Assistant, explained.

“Most of the general public doesn’t think this kind of thing exists in our little rural community, and all of us that deal with it on a day-to-day basis know that is so far from the truth that it’s ridiculous,” Vincent said.

While the shelter counts are down, SAFE recently had a large influx of requests for help with Protection From Abuse (PFA) orders, Vincent added.

“Especially in the last month, we have had a lot of Protection From Abuse orders that we do. I would say more (PFA’s) all at one time than we have in the past.”

According to SAFE Shelter Advocate Laurie Snyder, one reason for the increase in PFA orders is an escalation in the lethality of the violence in some of the recent abuse cases.

“Typically, the abuse we see happening is more hitting, punching, fists, things like that,” Snyder said. “But, we’re seeing a lot more with guns and knives. We’re seeing those numbers go up quite a bit.”

SAFE tracks any weapons used in abuse cases, and the recent trend is concerning, Snyder noted.

“While our numbers may be down, the violence we’re seeing is getting more lethal.”

National Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) originally evolved from the “Day of Unity” held in October of 1981 conceived by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

The Day of Unity soon grew into an entire week devoted to a range of activities conducted at the local, state, and national level focused on mourning those who have died because of domestic violence, celebrating those who have survived, and connecting those who work to end violence.

In October of 1987, the first official Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed, and the effort to make the public aware of domestic violence continues to be a focus to this day.

In recognition of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), the Clarion County Commissioners issued the following proclamation:

Whereas, domestic violence is a serious crime that affects people of all races, ages, income levels, and sexual orientations;

Whereas, the crime of domestic violence violates an individual’s privacy, dignity, security, and humanity, due to the systematic use of physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, and economic control and abuse;

Whereas, one out of every three women and one out of every four men report that they have been physically abused by an intimate partner or family member at some point in their lives and that 76 men, women, and children in Clarion County requested services for domestic violence between July of 2020 to October of 2020.

Whereas, in one year alone, 19 Clarion County women and 7 children sought emergency domestic violence shelter for 433 nights.

Whereas, about fifty percent of the men who frequently assault their wives also frequently abuse their children, and one in four girls between 14 and 17 are involved in an abusive relationship.

Whereas, the total health care costs of family violence is estimated in the hundreds of millions each year;

Whereas, only a coordinated community effort will put a stop to this heinous crime;

Now, therefore, we, the Clarion County Commissioners, recognize the important work done by domestic violence programs; hereby proclaim the month of October, 2020 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Clarion County and urge all citizens to actively participate in programs sponsored by SAFE to work toward the elimination of institutional violence against women.

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