Community observes Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month and communities across southeast Idaho are raising their voices in order to raise awareness.

Family Services Alliance acting executive director Sarah O’Banion said domestic violence is broadly defined as one person who tries to take control over another person. She said within this past year, they’ve seen an increase in clients, now upward of 110 individuals who walk through the FSA door every single month.

But, she said that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“When we have an increase in numbers, we know more people are reaching out for help and we want that,” O’Banion said. “We want people to come in our doors and get support.”

She said one in every four women will be impacted by a domestic violence situation in their lifetime.

Bannock County Prosecutor Steve Herzog said Pocatello charges about 250 misdemeanor domestic assault crimes each year.

Both he and the county’s Domestic Violence Court Coordinator Danika Chapple said there is a tremendous team at the county who are working to help victims stuck in this situation.

“We have a specialty judge, we have specialty prosecutors, victim witness coordinators, etc.,” Chapple said. “So, when we do have family violence happen here, we just have a great, educated team ready to handle those cases.”

Both Herzog and Chapple said when kids grow up in a home where there is domestic violence, usually the odds are against them.

“Those children either grow up to become abusers or those children grow up to become victims. So, it’s a cycle we see continuously,” Chapple added.

Stephanie Richardson is the assistant director at Idaho State University’s Anderson Gender Resource Center.

She was inspired by a program started at the University of Kentucky four years ago to stop violence on college campuses called The Green Dot Program, so she is starting it at ISU this year.

“This program encourages everybody to recognize “red dot” behaviors and those are instances such as: bullying, partner violence, or even stalking,” Richardson said.

She said 80% of sexual assault or abuse cases that occur on college campuses usually happen near a bystander who could have done something to step-in or stop the abuse.

“It could be as easy as, if somebody is fighting, you can flash your headlights on them and let them know you are watching. Or, it could be something as simple as knocking on someone’s door and asking if their electricity is on just to deflect anger in the moment from what’s going on,” she added.

She noted, this program has spread throughout the country to include both communities and even high schools. Richardson said in school that implemented The Green Dot Program, they saw a 50% reduction in these types of crimes.

She said at the University of Kentucky, one member of a fraternity on campus acknowledged he noticed one of his fraternity brothers leading a severely intoxicated young woman to his bedroom, and in order to stop him from taking advantage of the young woman while still avoiding the awkward confrontation, he went in with a couple of guys and told his fraternity brother someone was about to tow his car. When he left to go check on the car, the guys took the girl home.

To learn more about The Green Dot Program, visit its website here:http://www.isu.edu/womenctr/green-dot.shtml

O’Banion said on October 23, FSA is encouraging the community to wear purple in order to help raise awareness. You can visit the FSA website here:http://fsalliance.org/