by terry | Apr 12, 2023 | News
You or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence. Right here in Kenosha County.
This isn’t a pleasant topic to discuss. Or a family-friendly one. Because domestic violence isn’t.
But, it’s a necessary one.
Nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 in 10 women and 1 in 10 men will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime.
Locally, our rates rose sharply, too. According to the Violence Policy Center’s November 2022 report, Wisconsin ranks the 8th highest state in the country for domestic violence related homicides. And according to the Wisconsin Domestic Violence Homicide Report from September 2022, Kenosha County saw the second highest increase in one year –250%.
What do you do about it?
Women and Children’s Horizons is the oldest domestic violence services provider in Wisconsin. We have served the community since 1976. We provide shelter, crisis support, legal and personal advocacy, and a host of financial help to victims, training to agencies, and outreach, all free. We are out in the community and on social media spreading awareness about our mission daily.
Every. Single. Day.
Because if we don’t unmask domestic violence, we can’t confront it. Or stop it.
There are several things you can do, too – starting now:
1. Volunteer – if you are a lawyer, a therapist, a financial planner, a doctor, a childcare provider, a contractor, even someone willing to lend a supporting hand, we have clients who need you.
2. Attend and promote events -the bigger the crowd, the better the reach of our mission.
3. Hold abusers accountable – without accountability, consequences are drastic. 85% of women will be revictimized after age 44. The rates for men are similar. The Department of Labor reports that victims of domestic violence lose nearly 8 million days of paid work per year in the U.S., resulting in a $1.8 billion loss in productivity for employers.
So, don’t mask it as a “family problem.” It isn’t. It’s everyone’s.
WCH also hosts several events that are family-friendly. In February is our first Mardi Gras gala in person since the pandemic. “Unmask Abuse” starts at 6:30pm on Saturday, February 25th, at St. Joseph Catholic School in Kenosha. You can sponsor, donate, or, best of all, join us for drinks, dinner, games, and fancy-dressing as we have fun and raise funds for this mission.
For more information and to purchase tickets, see the events page at www.wchkenosha.org.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call us 24/7 for free, confidential help at 262 652 9900.
by terry | Apr 12, 2023 | News
“I was pummeled with narrowed, pointed questions that dissected my personal life, love life, past life, family life, inane questions, accumulating trivial details to try and find an excuse for this guy who had me half naked before even bothering to ask for my name. ”
That excerpt is from the Victim Impact Statement read before the court in People vs. Turner, the high-profile 2015 criminal case that found Stanford collegiate swimmer Brock Turner facing five felony sexual assault charges and a maximum of 10 years in prison. While Turner has become synonymous with his crime (his mugshot was even featured next to the definition of ‘rape’ in a criminology textbook following his three-count conviction, for which he served three months of a six-month sentence), the identity of his victim remained obscured under the placeholder ‘Jane Doe’ in court records and media coverage. Reduced to a peripheral figure in her own assault case, legal analysts and social media commenters dissected the most vulnerable hours of her life in an effort to determine where her rapist’s fault truly lie. Some doubted her claims of a nonconsensual encounter altogether, suggesting that her recollection of events before and after the attack were unreliable due to alcohol intoxication. Nameless, faceless, and long silent, she became the everywoman of sexual assault.
While the case concluded with a fractured semblance of justice, frustrations regarding Turner’s sentence lingered long after the final slam of the gavel. Following months of dialogue on the relatively light sentences handed down to perpetrators of sexual assault—and the disproportionately aggressive skepticism endured by women brave enough to report those crimes—the public was primed for outrage. Lauded for its exceptional depiction of the brutality of rape and a survivor’s efforts to reconcile her identity with her new lived experiences, Doe’s June 2016 address to the court was disseminated by news outlets worldwide. Four days and 11 million shares across social media later, the court of public opinion returned its verdict: Perpetrators of sexual violence could no longer use shame and intimidation to control the narrative, which had shifted from, ‘what did she do?’ to, ‘what consequences should he face?’
The next wave of victim-centered discourse gained traction in 2017 through #MeToo, the social media movement dominated by stories of women (and men) who, too, had been victims of sexual abuse, their disclosures in response to accusations leveled against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. “Time’s Up,” they said, as the once-powerful studio executive and various other high-profile figures were publicly admonished—and held criminally liable—for sexual misconduct. The trend of survivors telling their stories eventually reached the Senate floor in 2018, as the nation watched Christine Blasey Ford testify that then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh raped her decades earlier.
Sexual violence has never been confined to college campuses or the upper-echelons of society. It has always been in our community, and by talking about it, we are finally addressing its destructive effects on survivors.
In 2019, Turner’s victim disclosed her name. It’s Chanel.
