Back in 1989, Congress officially designated the month of October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Some people are very dialed into the value of having a month set aside to bring awareness to the scourge of domestic abuse and ways to try to lessen that, while others are not.
One key statistic is that every year 12 million women and men in the US fall prey to intimate partner physical violence, stalking dating abuse, or rape.
For this episode of What’s the Frequency, we discuss issues related to domestic abuse with three people from an agency called SafePlace in Sioux City.
Those three are SafePlace Executive Director Stephanie Pickinpaugh, Systems Advocate Margarita Mireles and Housing Advocate Ronda Miller.
That trio discusses what services SafePlace can deliver, including temporary or more long term housing for people leaving an abusive relationship.
Pickinpaugh, Milreles and Miller said there is value in commemorating Domestic Violence Awareness Month, as many people are not informed with the issues that surround abusive relationships.
Lately in the field, there has been a change in terminology, as the word “victim” has been removed in favor of survivors of domestic abuse.
SafePlace is participating in one more month of October event, bringing people with powerful stories in"Breaking the Silence: Domestic Violence Stories," as a Human Library event at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City at 11 a.m. October 30.
Phone numbers for people to call if they are experiencing domestic violence are 712-258-7233 or 1-800-799-7233.
*Click on the audio link above to hear the entire show.
What's The Frequency, Episode 83.
