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Domestic Violence Awareness Month--What can we do to make a difference?

9/28/2014

Hello Everyone!

In preparation for Domestic Violence Awareness Month starting Wednesday, October 1st, I’d like to share a few ideas with you on how you can get involved in the cause. It’s so important to talk about domestic violence and help reduce the stigma attached to the subject.

One in four women in the United States will become a victim of physical domestic violence in her lifetime. This precludes the number of unreported cases and also does not include other forms of abuse such as: verbal, emotional, sexual, spiritual, and financial.

What can we do to raise awareness? I have a few ideas:

Wear purple during the month of October and tell people why we are.

Familiarize ourselves with the domestic violence organization in our area and give that information to people in our life who may need it.

Celebrate and model healthy relationships.

Talk to our children and grandchildren about respecting themselves and others.

Go to a domestic violence rally in our area.

Talk to someone whom we suspect may be in a difficult relationship.

Familiarize ourselves with a safety plan in case someone needs our help.

Support our local domestic violence organization.

Volunteer.

Plan a fundraiser.

Any of these ideas will help raise awareness to this prevalent issue and help stop domestic violence in the future. It is important to continue to work throughout the year once November arrives.

Remember if we can help just one person, we’ve done our job!

Have a great week.

Katelin Maloney

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Darkness brings light to victims of domestic violence

9/21/2014

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Hello Everyone,

Over the past couple of weeks, instances of domestic violence by players in the NFL have been brought to light. Backlash from the public has been overwhelming and even team owners, coaches, and commentators have spoken out about domestic violence.

This increase in attention and awareness had caused the number of calls to the Domestic Violence Hotline to surge. (1-800-799-7233) Victims are coming forward to receive the help they desperately need.

This has encouraged more victims of domestic violence to gain courage and share their personal stories of domestic abuse. Several prominent women have come forward and told their story, such as Meredith Vieira and Robin Givens.

The #WHYISTAYED movement on twitter has given victims a platform to discuss the reasons why they stayed in an abusive relationship for as long as they did. People stay in abusive relationships for many complicated reasons. #WHYILEFT on twitter tells people how the victim left the relationship and why. Reading their stories helps to educate and understand the dynamics of abuse and its consequences.

All of this publicity has helped to raise awareness to the issues of domestic violence. People are being educated and the community is becoming more responsive.

Let’s continue the discussion. Remember, if we can help just one victim, we’ve done our job.

Katelin Maloney

8 Part Series on 'Why Women Stay'

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Domestic Violence: What we can learn from the Ray Rice case

9/14/2014

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Hello everyone,

The video of Ray Rice knocking out his then fiancée Janay Palmer has made the issue of domestic violence a heated topic of conversation. There was a public outcry when Ray Rice received a two game suspension from the NFL and again when the video of the incident was released. The Baltimore Ravens severed his contract and the NFL suspended him indefinitely upon viewing the video. This incident has captured the attention of the public, but how can we use this to reduce the number of victims in the future?

Ray Rice took a plea deal which consisted of probation and completion of an anger management program. Anger management programs are not as successful as batterer’s prevention programs. Batterer’s programs focus on stopping the pattern of abuse and try to find the root cause of why he abuses. ‘Batterer’s intervention programs address the concerns of intimate partner violence and attempt to end the cycle of violence, with an overall goal of victim safety.’(1) Is Ray Rice in the wrong program?

Abusers want to control and manipulative their intimate partner. Can they change their inbred nature? The basis of abuse comes from their values, opinions and lack of respect. How do we change people’s core values?

Let’s look at this from the victim’s point of view. Why doesn’t she just leave? The public has asked this question of Janay Palmer Rice. She married him after the incident. Isn’t she to blame?

This is classic victim-blaming. The crime was committed against her. The reasons why she’s staying are much more complex than why Ray Rice hit her. I summarized eight reasons why women stay in a series of recent blogs. See below for the link.

How can we prevent more victims of intimate partner abuse? I believe education and community awareness are two key components to prevention. We want to look at domestic violence on an individual basis. That way we can help each victim independently. Each victim experiences domestic violence differently and reacts according to her belief system.

Does a victim understand that domestic violence can be demonstrated in ways other than a slap or a punch? Does she know that jealously could lead to abuse? Does she know that if she is poked or pushed in an argument it is considered abuse? Has she been educated on the signs of abuse? Maybe she’s never witnessed a relationship that she can model for herself and doesn’t understand when someone crosses the line. Domestic violence organizations can educate her on the different types of abuse.

What if we can educate our younger children? Did you know the following statistic? ‘Approximately one in three adolescent girls in the United States is a victim of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner—a figure that far exceeds victimization rates for other types of violence affecting youth.’ (2 ) If we can reach young people and help them to understand what is acceptable in a relationship, then we can reduce the number of victims in the future.

Community Awareness is another area where we can focus on the individual. Do you know or suspect someone may be in an abusive relationship? Do you know how to help them? We need toe educate the community on the signs of domestic abuse. Friends and family can support her and help her to realize that she’s in an abusive relationship and guide her to an organization that will help her. The more aware we are about intimate partner abuse, the better we can support the victim.

Remember, if we can help just one victim, we’ve done our job!

Katelin Maloney

Click here for the 8 part series on why women stay and scroll down to read each reason.

1) Hubbard House is a certified domestic violence center serving victims in Duval and Baker counties in north Florida. http://jacksonville.com/interact/blog/inside_hubbard_house/2009-06-09/anger_management_versus_batterers_intervention

2) Davis, Antoinette, MPH. 2008. Interpersonal and Physical Dating Violence among Teens. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency Focus. Available at http://www.ocjs.ohio.gov/TDVMonth/Interpersonal_Teens.pdf

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Male Victims of Domestic Violence

9/7/2014

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Hello Everyone!

Today I’d like to talk about a topic that is not often discussed in our society: male victims of domestic violence. The statistics show that female victims make of the majority of domestic violence cases, but males can also fall victim to intimate partner violence.

Men experience abuse in ways similar to females. They can be victims of physical, mental, verbal, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse. Their children can also be used as leverage. In same-sex relationships the partner can threaten to give away the victim’s sexual identity. The perpetrator can control the victim in the same ways as a female victim is controlled.

Unfortunately, there is much less data on male victims of domestic violence than for female victims. However I found that ‘One out of fourteen men has been physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabitating partner, boyfriend/girlfriend or date at some point in their lives’.1 Also, 40% of gay and bisexual men will experience abuse at the hands of an intimate partner.2

What can we do to help? We can offer the same tools to a male victim as a female victim. We can listen, help him come up with a safety plan, and inform him of domestic violence resources in the area. Although this issue is less prevalent than domestic violence against women, it is still unacceptable and is a crime.

Any type of violence should not be accepted in our society today.

I hope you have a great week and remember if we can help just one victim, we’ve done our job!

Katelin Maloney

Thoennes, N., & Tjaden, P. (2000) Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women; Findings from the National

Violence Against Women Survey. National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Greenwod, G.L. (2002) “Battering and Victimization among a Probability Based Sample of Men who have Sex with Men.” American Journal of Public

Health, 92, 1964-1969.

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Domestic Violence Awareness Month--What can we do to make a difference?

Darkness brings light to victims of domestic violence

Domestic Violence: What we can learn from the Ray Rice case

Male Victims of Domestic Violence

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