Laramie Recognizes October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so the Albany County SAFE Project is sponsoring events to help educate and heal the community. In 2010 there were 3,305 incidents of domestic violence reported in Wyoming and SAFE Project worked with 236 new victims. The public is invited to use this month to take a stand against domestic violence. Here are two ways to do just that.

Domestic violence expert Lundy Bancroft will give a keynote speech titled, “Causes and Solutions for Domestic Violence” on October 18th at 7 p.m. in the University of Wyoming Union center ballroom. Bancroft is a nationally recognized expert on batterrer behavior and the effect domestic violence has on families. His visit to Laramie is sponsored by SAFE Project, UW Student Activities Council, Wyoming Women’s Foundation, Laramie Woman’s Club, UW Stop Violence Program and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of WY.

Then SAFE Project’s annual candlelight vigil will take place on October 26th at 6 p.m. at the Alice Hardie Stevens Center. Stories of women who were murdered in Albany County by their intimate partners will be read and survivors will be given time to speak about how domestic violence has affected them or their loved ones.

Becca Fisher of SAFE Project says domestic violence is an issue that affects everyone in the Laramie community. SAFE Project reports that one in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.  Annually, there are 16,800 homicides and 2.2 million medically treated injuries due to intimate partner violence in the United States, which costs $37 billion.

For more information, contact SAFE Project at (307)742-7273.