October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Delaware and Governor Markell discusses the state’s efforts to combat domestic violence and raise awareness about resources available to those affected by it.
Governor’s Weekly Message
Governor Jack Markell
Full text of Governor Jack Markell’s weekly message:
Domestic violence destroys lives. It tears apart families and can leave its survivors with scars – both physical and emotional – that can take years to heal.
And yet millions of cases of domestic violence happen in our country each year. In the most severe cases – domestic violence becomes murder. 13-hundred deaths a year – more than three lives lost each day. Our great state of Delaware is not immune. Each year, thousands of cases of domestic violence happen right here as well.
It’s a cycle of violence and hatred that needs to end. Survivors need to be helped – offenders need to be punished. That’s one reason we proclaimed October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month here in the First State – to raise awareness of the resources available to help people trapped in these dangerous situations, including a 24-Hour Domestic Violence Hotline Number in each county. of course if you are ever in immediate danger, always call 9-1-1.
Besides raising awareness, laws passed the last two years have created new penalties for offenders – including a law that makes strangulation a felony crime.
These laws have created new opportunities for survivors –including significant expansion of the time Protection-from-Abuse orders can be put in place and a law our Attorney General Beau Biden wrote and I signed this spring that gives survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault the chance to apply for a substitute address through the Department of Justice and therefore keep their new homes and addresses confidential.
As one of Delaware’s largest employers, state government put in place an executive order to help state employees who are survivors of abuse recover and move on with their lives – a policy that private sector employers are encouraged to follow.
Any incident of domestic violence and abuse is one too many. The fact that millions of families are affected each year is heartbreaking. That’s why raising awareness, and enforcement, is so critical.
Offenders are not misunderstood – they are criminals. And they should be treated as such.
If you are a survivor – know that there is help. If you know someone in a situation you suspect is dangerous – get them help. It’s only by working together that we can break this terrible cycle of violence and abuse and help survivors, and our state, move forward.
