Post by lace on Oct 8, 2006 21:54:46 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Cutouts bear witness to domestic violence's impact
Sterling Heights joins cities nationwide this month honoring abuse victims [/glow]
October 8, 2006
A man walks past a cutout Friday at Sterling Heights City Hall that honors Lisa Lonchar, 42, of Warren, who was killed by her boyfriend. (WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press)
[glow=red,2,300]Facts about domestic violence
• It's the leading cause of injury to women ages 15-44.
• One out of three women will experience domestic violence at least once in their lifetime.
• Three to 4 million women are battered in the United States every year -- about one every 15 seconds.
• About half of the nation's homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence.
• Sixty percent of high school students have been involved in abusive relationships.
Source: Beaumont Hospital [/glow]
There's a woman on display in Sterling Heights City Hall.
Or rather, a blood red, life-sized, woman-shaped wood cutout. Slender and standing at 5 feet 5 with one hand on her hip, the image is the first thing visitors see when they walk through the door and into the lobby.
It's a figure that has been turning heads since last week, when it went on display to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month, observed across the United States in October.
Part of the national Silent Witness Program, the cutout is on loan from Beaumont Hospital in Troy, which has distributed about 40 silhouettes to churches, schools and municipalities across metro Detroit.
Each cutout represents a Michigan woman, man or child who had been killed through domestic violence.
The placard on the chest of the figure in Sterling Heights implores people to remember Lisa Lonchar and others like her.
Lonchar, a 42-year-old Warren resident, was killed in November by her live-in boyfriend, who shot her point-blank in the face after an argument. A jury convicted Michael W. Bedwell, 47, who had convictions for brandishing a weapon and domestic abuse, of second-degree murder in May.
Sharing Lonchar's story, said Mayor Richard Notte, could help others recognize or prevent abusive relationships.
"I think domestic violence is a bigger problem than a lot of people realize," he said Thursday.
The issue has become a big one in Macomb County, with deputies responding to an estimated 1,000 suspected domestic violence incidents annually. To deal with the problem, officials have created several initiatives, including the Macomb Community Domestic Violence Council, which in August issued a report recommending several ways to improve the response of law enforcement agencies and judges to domestic violence.
They are also teaming up with organizations like Beaumont Hospital, which held a ceremony earlier this month to recognize the victims of domestic violence and honor them through the Silent Witness program.
The initiative, said Joy Seguin, a nurse manager who serves on the hospital's domestic violence committee, aims to break the cycle of abuse.
"The problem with domestic violence is that it hasn't come out of the closet," Seguin said Friday. "Our effort is to get people involved -- we want friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers and city council members to help."
Also on display in Troy and Royal Oak is a cutout honoring Leila Armin, a 20-year-old tennis player whose boyfriend beat and stabbed her to death last June. Armin's father, a Beaumont physician, is one of several employees directly and indirectly touched by domestic violence, Seguin said.
"It affects us all in a multitude of ways," she added.
The Silent Witness program was founded in 1990 by a group of women in Minneapolis, after they saw friends and families devastated by domestic violence.
Since then, it has expanded to include silhouettes of the elderly to represent the growing psychological, physical and financial abuse against them.
Nationwide, there are also cutouts of infants and pregnant women, who are 60% more likely to be abused than nonpregnant women, according to some studies.
Contact SHABINA S. KHATRI at 586-469-8087 or skhatri@freepress.com.
www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061008/NEWS04/610080607/1006/NEWS
Sterling Heights joins cities nationwide this month honoring abuse victims [/glow]
October 8, 2006
A man walks past a cutout Friday at Sterling Heights City Hall that honors Lisa Lonchar, 42, of Warren, who was killed by her boyfriend. (WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press)
[glow=red,2,300]Facts about domestic violence
• It's the leading cause of injury to women ages 15-44.
• One out of three women will experience domestic violence at least once in their lifetime.
• Three to 4 million women are battered in the United States every year -- about one every 15 seconds.
• About half of the nation's homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence.
• Sixty percent of high school students have been involved in abusive relationships.
Source: Beaumont Hospital [/glow]
There's a woman on display in Sterling Heights City Hall.
Or rather, a blood red, life-sized, woman-shaped wood cutout. Slender and standing at 5 feet 5 with one hand on her hip, the image is the first thing visitors see when they walk through the door and into the lobby.
It's a figure that has been turning heads since last week, when it went on display to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month, observed across the United States in October.
Part of the national Silent Witness Program, the cutout is on loan from Beaumont Hospital in Troy, which has distributed about 40 silhouettes to churches, schools and municipalities across metro Detroit.
Each cutout represents a Michigan woman, man or child who had been killed through domestic violence.
The placard on the chest of the figure in Sterling Heights implores people to remember Lisa Lonchar and others like her.
Lonchar, a 42-year-old Warren resident, was killed in November by her live-in boyfriend, who shot her point-blank in the face after an argument. A jury convicted Michael W. Bedwell, 47, who had convictions for brandishing a weapon and domestic abuse, of second-degree murder in May.
Sharing Lonchar's story, said Mayor Richard Notte, could help others recognize or prevent abusive relationships.
"I think domestic violence is a bigger problem than a lot of people realize," he said Thursday.
The issue has become a big one in Macomb County, with deputies responding to an estimated 1,000 suspected domestic violence incidents annually. To deal with the problem, officials have created several initiatives, including the Macomb Community Domestic Violence Council, which in August issued a report recommending several ways to improve the response of law enforcement agencies and judges to domestic violence.
They are also teaming up with organizations like Beaumont Hospital, which held a ceremony earlier this month to recognize the victims of domestic violence and honor them through the Silent Witness program.
The initiative, said Joy Seguin, a nurse manager who serves on the hospital's domestic violence committee, aims to break the cycle of abuse.
"The problem with domestic violence is that it hasn't come out of the closet," Seguin said Friday. "Our effort is to get people involved -- we want friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers and city council members to help."
Also on display in Troy and Royal Oak is a cutout honoring Leila Armin, a 20-year-old tennis player whose boyfriend beat and stabbed her to death last June. Armin's father, a Beaumont physician, is one of several employees directly and indirectly touched by domestic violence, Seguin said.
"It affects us all in a multitude of ways," she added.
The Silent Witness program was founded in 1990 by a group of women in Minneapolis, after they saw friends and families devastated by domestic violence.
Since then, it has expanded to include silhouettes of the elderly to represent the growing psychological, physical and financial abuse against them.
Nationwide, there are also cutouts of infants and pregnant women, who are 60% more likely to be abused than nonpregnant women, according to some studies.
Contact SHABINA S. KHATRI at 586-469-8087 or skhatri@freepress.com.
www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061008/NEWS04/610080607/1006/NEWS