The Family Crisis Center is inviting the community to join its observance of the sixth-annual “Turn Our Town Purple” event Thursday, Oct. 25. The event is part of the center’s marking October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, said Becky Davis, FCC domestic and sexual violence program director.

“We want people to wear their favorite purple shirt, decorate their office in purple, or shine a purple light to show your commitment to be part of the equation,” she said. If one doesn’t have a purple shirt, the center will have appropriately colored ribbons available.

“Take a picture and post it to facebook.com/FamilyCrisisCenter,” she said. “Or email your pictures and we’ll post them.”

This is being held in conjunction with National Network to End Domestic Violence’s #PurpleThursday.

“Relationships are often counted as life’s greatest treasures, and tragically, many are tarnished by one person’s entitlement to power and control over the other, resulting in violence and fear,” Davis said. “DV abusers violate an individual’s privacy, dignity, security and humanity with their intentional, systematic use of financial, psychological, sexual, physical and coercive control and abuse.”

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation reports DV homicides were 12.8 percent of all homicides in Kansas in 2016. And, in Kansas in 2016, one DV arrest was made by law enforcement every 46 minutes, one DV incident occurred every 23 minutes, and one DV murder occurred every 19 days. 

Closer to home, Davis listed these sobering statistics for the center from July through September of this year. The center covers Barber, Barton, Comanche, Edwards, Kiowa, Ness, Pawnee, Pratt, Rush and Stafford counties.

It provided services to:

• 114 domestic violence survivors – 86 were in Barton County.

•  39 sexual assault survivors – 26 in Barton County.

• Four stalking victims – all four in Barton County.

• Had 31 domestic violence survivors in a shelter.

The term “domestic violence” means intimate partner violence. Intimate partner violence can take many forms and describes physical, sexual, financial and emotional and psychological harm – in the dating process, which is called “dating violence,” and by a current or former partner or spouse. The violence can occur among heterosexual, same-sex, or any other type of intimate partner relationship and does not require sexual intimacy.

The Dell Hayden Memorial Child Advocacy Center housed in the Family Crisis Center covers Barton, Pawnee, Rush and Stafford counties.

For more information call the center, 620-792-1885, or visit familycrisiscntr.org online. The email address info@familycrisiscntr.org.