October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Savannah, Hardin County

Wo/Men’s Resource and Rape Assistance Program is focusing on October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Mayors Kevin Davis and Bob Shutt signed proclamations declaring October Domestic Awareness Month in Hardin County and Savannah respectively.
“Domestic abuse remains a hidden problem in our communities,” said Daryl Chansuthus, executive director of WRAP. “It is characterized by silence – silence from those who suffer, silence from those around them, and silence from those who perpetrate abuse. This silence is corrosive; it leaves women, children, and men, carrying the burden of shame. It prevents them from speaking out about their abuse, and it prevents them from getting help. At its worst, it can be fatal.”
Shayla Russell has been the WRAP Advocate for Hardin and McNairy counties for the past three years. “Last fiscal year I assisted 73 survivors of domestic violence in Hardin County,” she said.
“Domestic violence is viewed as someone else’s problem until it’s your family member or your friend who is vandalized, who is emotionally harmed, who is displaced from their home, who is hurt or who is murdered,” said Penny Hensley, domestic violence program manager of WRAP. “This is a community challenge, requiring us all to join together to make sure everyone knows WRAP is here to provide the services victims need to break free from these unhealthy relationships, and for survivors to use their voices of change for individuals, families and communities, unified in telling offenders to stop the abuse.”
According to WRAP, in the United States, one in four women will be the victim of domestic violence at some point in her lifetime, and, on average, three women are killed every day at the hands of a current or former intimate partner. In Tennessee, 98 victims were killed by an intimate partner in 2018.
WRAP says that in West Tennessee, more than 50 percent of all crimes against persons are crimes of domestic violence. Of the more than 2,200 victims served by WRAP in 2018, more than half had at least one child.
This October, several activities have been planned throughout West Tennessee to raise awareness and encourage people to wear purple in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.