October officially declared as Domestic Violence Awareness month in Statesboro

STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - Last week at the Statesboro City Hall, Mayor McCollar signed a proclamation, officially declaring October as the month of domestic violence awareness, here in Statesboro.

The proclamation was signed and given to the leaders of Safe Haven Domestic Violence Outreach center. This center has worked with agencies all across the area to bring awareness including five other counties beyond Bulloch.

Kim Billings who has worked for Safe Haven for 20 years, says the need for awareness never runs out.

“Leaving is one of the most dangerous times in a domestic violence victim’s life and if we could just do some part to keep them safe, be there for them, that’s all,” said Kim Billings, Public Relations Director, Safe Haven. “Being there on their journey with them is so important to each one of us here.“

Billings says that in the last year alone, they answered around 20 crisis calls a day. She says that there are a lot of misconceptions about domestic violence.

“89% of the people we helped last year were women, but that means that 11% of our callers were male,” said Billings. “The year before, 9%, so we were up 2% by male callers but domestic violence means no boundaries.”

Billings says this month, they are focusing on educating the public including teens. Statistics show domestic violence affects 1 in 3 teens each year.

“A lot of time people in their lives aren’t aware of what’s even going on,” said Billings. “81% of people that are around teens don’t even think its an issue.”