CARRBORO, N.C. – Mayor Barbara Foushee proclaims October 2024 Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Carrboro.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, on average nearly 20 people per minute are abused by an intimate partner in the United States. In North Carolina, according to the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, at least 73 individuals were murdered by a current or former intimate partner in 2023 and at least 63 have been murdered so far in 2024. At least two Orange County residents have been murdered so far this year by a current or former intimate partner or family member.
Domestic violence encompasses not only physical abuse, but also emotional, verbal, financial, sexual, or digital abuse, isolation and/or stalking.
Domestic violence disproportionately impacts racial and ethnic minorities, undocumented people, women, trans and gender non-conforming people and disabled people.
Compass Center, the state-designated domestic violence service provider for Orange County, serves more than 1,300 survivors of domestic violence each year through its 24-hour domestic violence crisis line, support groups, court and community advocacy, Latinx programs, career and financial counseling, and other services and engages thousands more in prevention education and outreach.
Compass Center has collaborated with numerous local agencies over the last two years to bring the Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP) Program to Orange County. This program trains first responders to screen for lethality risk factors and directly connects highest-risk victims to Compass Center. Compass center now receives on-scene referrals from LAP-trained officers with Carrboro PD, Chapel Hill PD, Hillsborough PD and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Preventing domestic violence requires the collective awareness, care and action of individuals, institutions, and systems to transform our communities through social norms, policies, and laws that reject violence and abuse and promote healthy relationships based on respect, trust, and equity.
More information: https://www.compassctr.org/dvam2024
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