Guest Columnist: Domestic violence thrives on silence

That's why it's important to break the silence

Oct. 03,2006

I could truly touch on many topics that Ms. Wilk touches on in this article, she hits the nail on the head with the words; "When you break the silence, you break the cycle." This month, DV Awareness Month, this is what we must begin, and continue it all year long.

"Nationally, domestic violence, it is estimated, touches someone's life every seven seconds." States Ms. Wilk. "I believe if we could peek into homes, we would find it even more prevalent than that."

She is so right about this! How many suffer in silence? How many are too afraid to call 911 in an emergency? How many times have we found out after a tragic death that the Victim had been abused for years? Too often this happens, and the silence is what keeps DV alive and strong.

Silence is evil's closest ally. --Gary Amirault

This October, let's bring the Silence closer to the end.

Guest Columnist: Domestic violence thrives on silence

That's why it's important to break the silence

St. Mary's Sheriff Receives Multiple Grants

Posted on October 02, 2006

This grant may actually help out St. Mary's County in Maryland if it is actually implemented!

"$20,000 goes to improving the effectiveness of the Sex Offender Registry Unit by increasing the number of follow-up verifications of registry information, called Project "Verify"." This will help make sure that the Sex Offenders are where they state they are, and followed closer so that less Sex Offenders can slip through the cracks.

"$14,340 to continue Project "SAVE" (Sheriff's Anti-Violence Enforcement Unit) the Domestic Violence Unit which is designed to coordinate the law enforcement response to victims." This will give the Director of the unit more time to actually assist DV Victims!

"$15,000 in additional monies for Project "SAVE" the Victims to enhance existing service efforts and meet the District and Circuit Court's guidelines for efficiency and promptness in serving the ex-partes and protective orders." This is greatly needed! So often victims attempt to get protective orders, and they take longer then needed to obtain. This grant money will enable the unit to also get a deputy in position to help decrease the time it takes to put in the information of the PO into the database and getting it to the assailant/suspect.

The other dispersement of this grant shows that finally a step has been made in the right direction. Only time will tell just how affective this grant will become.

St. Mary's Sheriff Receives Multiple Grants

School absences lead agency to remove daughters for weeks

This news story truly disturbs me. Worse, Myrtle Beach is about 2 hours from me, and I know that this area that I live in is just about as hard hit, and without enough help.
In this news story, it mentions that the father was an abuser for at least the last 10 years, and was mandated to get parenting and anger management help, same with the mother. I don't believe that anger management helps much, and that those with anger issues only come home even more mad then when they went in. Who wouldn't after being put down and pushed for an hour by someone that just doesn't seem to care??? What help was there for the Victim in this case???? What counseling was given to her or her daughters? NONE. That's only one problem that this story presents.
No help, a daughter with many health issues, absenses at school, and instead of getting the help that family desperately needed, the children were put into a Psychiatric Hospital because they were diagnosed with PTSD. Of course they had PTSD with what they had been through!!! The daughter thinking that she was the reason for deaths, the beatings she saw her father give her mother, the family was in shambles! Yet, the system didn't help those problems, but created more.
While in the Psychiatric Hospital, the children saw even greater atrosities. Children trying to commit suicide, children acting out against the adults there, and them being punished for not being able to deal with it all.
Why is the system failing our families? Why is the system that was set to protect and support our families failing? One reason is a heavy case load and not enough workers. The other is because the system is not set up with enough support services to provide for the needs of an ever failing society.
Read below, and you make your decision...........

Posted on Mon, Oct. 02, 2006
CHILD PROTECTION
DSS actions get mixed results
School absences lead agency to remove daughters for weeks