042923- An Angry Word (Part 4) by Wendi S. Harrington

[caption id="attachment_616" align="alignnone" width="225"] An Angry Word (Part 4) by Wendi S. Harrington[/caption]

• The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%

• 9% of domestic violence involves a weapon.

• Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.

• A study of intimate partner homicides found that 20% of victims were not the intimate partners themselves, but family members, friends, neighbors, persons who intervened, law enforcement responders, or bystanders.

• 72% of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner; 94% of the victims of these murder suicides are female.

• Between 2003 and 2008, 142 women were murdered in their workplace by their abuser, 78% of women killed in the workplace during this timeframe

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN OKLAHOMA

● 40.1% of Oklahoma women and 37.8% of Oklahoma men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner rape and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes.

● In 2019, 37 individuals were victims of intimate partner homicide in Oklahoma. Eighty-one percent of these deaths involved a firearm.

● On a single day in 2020, Oklahoma the domestic violence programs reported serving 948 adult and child victims of domestic violence. During this same 24-hour period, 203 Hotline calls were received, averaging 9 contacts per hour. Fifty-eight requests for services were unmet due to lack of resources.

● Oklahoma is ranked 3rd in the nation for women killed by men in single victim-single offender, homicides.

For anonymous, confidential help available 24/7, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY) now.

Statistical information was obtained from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence website at https://ncadv.sitewrench.com/statistics on 4/28/23.

An Angry Word (Part 4)

A spark of hope. A ray of light. A glimmer of love touches the night. On hands and knees, I begin to crawl. Just a little more, and this wall could fall. Alas, by now, the light has gone. But that trace of hope still lingers on.