To the Editor:
Every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted or beaten.
Half of all homeless women are fleeing domestic violence.
Boys who witness domestic violence are two times as likely to abuse their partners when they’re adults.
Do these statistics disturb you? I hope so! Even if you think domestic violence doesn’t affect you, it does. Costs amount to more than $37 billion a year in law enforcement involvement, legal work, medical and mental health treatment, and lost productivity at work.
Domestic Violence is not one of those hand-wringing events that we sit back and bemoan the injustice of it all, thinking there’s nothing we can do. Because there is.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and here are a few things you can do:
• Invite the local domestic violence program to speak at your next staff/church/club meeting.
• Volunteer to be a trained advocate.
• Learn the warning signs and where resources are available.
• Attend the movie, “The Mask You Live In,” on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m., at Clinton Community College
Auditorium, 1000 Lincoln Blvd. Jennifer Siebel Newsom, known for Miss Representation, examines the frightening results of the messages boys hear about what it means to be a man. Because of these messages, boys are more likely to be prescribed prescription medications, commit suicide, drop out of school, or commit a violent crime. The movie aspires to change the way we raise our boys, and change the messages we send them.
For more information, go to www.ClintonFranciscans.com.
Lori Freudenberg
Community Outreach Director
