Domestic violence vigils scheduled in Barstow and Victorville
San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson will speak this week at Candlelight Vigils in Barstow and Victorville as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The vigils will honor the individuals who lost their lives to acts of domestic violence and to those who survived.
Anderson will be the keynote speaker at the vigil that begins at 6 p.m. on Friday at Victorville City Hall, located at 14343 Civic Drive.
He will also speak during the “Brilliant not Broken” vigil and processional at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Barstow Courthouse at 235 E. Mountain View Street.
The processional will be nearly .7 miles and end at Desert Sanctuary at 703 E. Main Street.
Desert Sanctuary’s mission is to provide a temporary and safe refuge for individuals and families suffering from violence
Domestic Violence Awareness Month was launched nationwide in 1987 to connect individuals and organizations working on domestic violence issues while raising awareness.
‘Blood on my hands’
Single mother “Veronika,” told the Daily Press that having “no support system” and the fear that she and her two children would be “injured or killed” is what prevented her from leaving her abusive husband of 10 years.
“After we got married, his drinking got worse, and he started yelling at me,” said Veronika, a former High Desert resident who left her husband in 2019.
The verbal abuse eventually led to Veronika’s husband slapping, shoving, spitting, and punching her, but only when alcohol was involved, which was “usually three days a week,” she said.
Veronika finally sought help and left her husband after he broke his daughter’s nose by shoving her against a wooden bookshelf.
“I was holding my two children while trying to stop my daughter’s nose from bleeding,” Veronika said. “The sound of my children crying and my daughter’s blood on my hands was too much.”
Domestic violence statistics
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence estimates that 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the U.S., which equates yearly to more than 10 million women and men.
1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to this violence.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe physical violence, sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking.
1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. This includes a range of behaviors, such as slapping, shoving, and pushing.
An intimate partner has injured 1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men.
An intimate partner has raped 1 in 10 women. Data is unavailable on male victims.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of an intimate partner. The physical violence includes beating, burning, and strangling.
An intimate partner has stalked 1 in 7 women and 1 in 18 men during their lifetime.
On a typical day, more than 20,000 phone calls are placed to domestic violence hotlines nationwide.
The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%.
Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crimes.
An intimate partner most commonly abuses women between 18-24.
19% of domestic violence involves a weapon.
Only 34% of people injured by intimate partners receive medical care for their injuries.
72% of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner, and 94% of the victims are female.
Victims of domestic violence are also at higher risk for developing alcohol, tobacco, or drug addictions.
S.B. County Coalition of DV Shelters
abway.org
desert-sanctuary.org
doves4help.org
familyassist.org
houseofruthinc.org
optionhouseinc.com
Unityhome.org
domesticshelters.org
Resources
National Domestic Violence Hotline 800-799-7233 or ndvh.org.
National Child Abuse Hotline/Childhelp 800-422-4453 or childhelp.org.
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-4673 or rainn.org.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-8255.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dispatch 760-956-5001.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Domestic violence vigils scheduled in Barstow and Victorville
