Domestic violence awareness crusade beefed up in October

The fight against domestic violence beefs up next month as the Family Violence Task Force, in coordination with other agencies, has scheduled events intended to promote awareness on the negative effects domestic violence has on families and society.

Speaking at the weekly Saipan Rotary Club meeting yesterday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency, task force chair Clyde Lemons disclosed that acting Gov. Diego T. Benavente will sign a proclamation this Friday declaring October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

According to Lemons, a march organized for men in support of victims of domestic violence is scheduled Friday evening, Oct. 1. Dubbed the White Ribbon March, the event features a course beginning at the Kristo Rai Church to the Oleai Beach Bar and Grill, and back to the church.

Participants are encouraged to assemble at the church at 5pm, with the first 200 individuals receiving a t-shirt. White ribbons will be on sale for $1 apiece.

“This is the first time men are organizing an event on this island in support of victims of domestic violence,” Lemons said. “We’re asking all of you, even those not able to walk the whole distance, to assemble with us.”

Also, a pastoral letter signed by Bishop Thomas Camacho will be read at every Catholic Church Mass on island on Oct 3. A poster and essay contest will also be conducted for kids on Oct. 15, and an official Mass is scheduled on Oct. 17 at San Antonio Church.

Candle light vigils are also scheduled for Rota on Oct. 4, for Tinian on Oct. 14, and on Saipan on Oct. 29. The vigil on Saipan will feature a march from the American Memorial Park to the Paseo de Marianas mall.

Conferences will be held the day after the vigils on Tinian and Rota.

Lemons said brochures and materials on domestic violence will also be handed out during each Garapan Street Market event for the month.

Statistics show that in the U.S., one woman every 15 seconds is subjected to domestic violence.

“Take any five year period since 1900…more women died as a direct result of domestic violence than the number of American soldiers who died in the entire Vietnam War,” Lemons said. “It starts with a little yelling, then a little slap, then it escalates over time.”

In the Commonwealth, two women died last year as a result of domestic violence.

In the past six years, the Department of Public Safety responded to an average of over 300 cases classified as domestic disturbance complaints. Earlier, the Domestic Violence Intervention Center indicated that the number of domestic abuse incidents in the CNMI exceeds 800 cases a year, as many are not reported.

The Center disclosed that number of domestic violence incidents continued to climb by 34 percent in the January-September 2003 period, compared with the 284 complaints in 2002.

In 2001, the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Office received 205 referred cases but only 86 of the accused got jail time. In 2002, the AGO received 135 reports and only 22 resulted in incarceration.

During the period of January 1999 to March 31, 2000 the Department of Public Safety received approximately 1,155 domestic violence-related complaints.

This prompted anti-domestic abuse advocates to lobby for the passage of a measure that would provide a mechanism that would differentiate non-domestic violence crimes and those involving domestic violence.