Cultivating and building healthy loving relationships is the key to putting a stop to domestic violence.
About 20 people per minute in the United States are abused by an intimate partner, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Domestic Violence includes physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence and emotional
abuse. October kicks off Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This year's theme is Speak up:
Be a part of the Solution! In order to take action against Domestic Violence we must speak out and up against it.
To help with nourishing healthy relationships, which eventually helps with eliminating domestic violent situations, Fort Jackson's Family Advocacy programs holds a healthy relationship
class every first Tuesday of the month.
"This is really the important thing,"said Kamala Henley, Family Advocacy Program victim advocate at Fort Jackson. " Having healthy relationships is what's going to help people stay out of
bad relationships."
The class discusses open communication, handling conflict, the role of independence and respect and how to recognize and grow healthy relationships, "Although we offer this class, no one ever really shows up," said Henley.
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence lists these warning signs of unhealthy relationships:
n Telling the victim that they can never do anything right n Accusing the victim of cheating
n Keeping or discouraging the victim from seeing friends or family members
n Embarrassing or shaming the victim with putdowns
n Controlling every penny spent in the household
n Taking the victim's money or refusing to give them money for expenses
n Looking at or acting in ways that scare the person they are abusing
n Controlling who the victim sees, where they go, or what they do
n Dictating how the victim dresses, wears their hair, etc.
n Stalking the victim or monitoring their victim's every move (in person or also via the internet and/or other devices such as GPS tracking or the victim's phone)
n Preventing the victim from making their own decisions
n Threatening to hurt or kill the victim's friends, loved ones, or pets
n Intimidating the victim with guns, knives, or other weapons
n Pressuring the victim to have sex when they don't want to or to do things sexually they are not comfortable with
n Preventing the victim from working or attending school, harassing the victim at either, keeping their victim up all night so they perform badly at their job or in school
n Destroying the victim's property
NCADV reports that on a typical day there are more than 20,000 phone calls placed to domestic violence hotlines nationwide. One in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been victims of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime. On Oct. 24, Fort Jackson will hold a Domestic Violence Awareness Month luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the NCO Club. Guest speaker Dale Wells will talk about his story surviving an abusive relationship.
For anonymous, confidential help available 24/7, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800- 799-7233 (SAFE) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY).
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