Annual Dalton event to draw attention to domestic violence
Friday, January 1, 1904
IF YOU GO* What: Sixth annual domestic violence conference* When: 8:45 a.m. Oct. 19* Where: Dalton State College, 650 College Drive, Dalton, Ga.* Cost: $35 with lunch, $45 without lunch if registered after Oct. 17.* Information: 706-270-5130 or http://dvconferencedsc.eventbrite.com. Continuing education units available for licensed social workers, professional counselors and marriage and family therapists.TO GET HELP1-800-33-HAVEN (42836)FAST FACTS• From 2003 through 2011, at least 1,071 Georgians died as a result of domestic violence.• Georgia was ranked sixth in the nation for its rate of men killing women.• In FY 2011, Georgia's certified domestic violence agencies received 68,222 crisis calls.• Nationwide, one in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.• Since 1976, about 30 percent of female murder victims nationwide have been killed by their intimate partners.Source: Georgia Commission on Family Violence
The death toll from domestic violence in Georgia is more than 100 per year, but a coalition of area groups wants to reduce those numbers.
"It doesn't help anyone when we pretend [domestic violence] doesn't exist," said Marcy Muller, an attorney with Georgia Legal Services and a member of a committee planning the sixth annual domestic violence conference.
Topics for the Oct. 19 event at Dalton State College range from the mental health needs of abuse survivors to healthy teen relationships.
"The purpose is to provide training to our community and increase the understanding of domestic violence victimization," Muller said.
The keynote address, "Victimization: A Survivor's Perspective," will be delivered by Olga Trujillo, a nationally renowned attorney, advocate and abuse victim.
During lunch, Christina Hall will talk about losing her sister Theresa Parker, a Walker County 911 dispatch operator. Parker went missing in 2007 and Sam Parker, her estranged husband and a police officer with a history of domestic violence, was found guilty of murder and is serving a life sentence.
"When we've made so much progress in racial equality and all kinds of equality, we haven't made near the progress in gender equality," said Lynne Cabbe, chairwoman of the conference planning committee.
The Georgia Commission on Family Violence, the Conasauga Family Violence Alliance and Dalton State sponsor the conference. Organizers said attendance has tripled since the first year, attracting professionals and residents from across Georgia and parts of Tennessee.