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Domestic violence is everyone’s business
By Mark Homer
Contributor
Published October 21, 2009
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time when every person should consider what he or she can do to help end the epidemic of domestic violence that plagues our nation.
The statistics are staggering.
In 2008, 136 Texas women were killed by their intimate partners and 193,505 incidents of family violence were reported. The research also showed that friends, family members and co-workers are often the first resource that a victim will turn to for help. Seventy-three percent of all Texans believed that domestic violence is a serious problem in Texas.
The 81st Legislature passed numerous laws involving family violence, all of which I supported.
Bills of interest include:
•$50.9 million for core shelter and programmatic services statewide for 2009-2011;
•increased penalty for strangulation and suffocation to a felony;
•requirement for family violence offenders to pay mandatory fee to family violence center;
•expanded lease termination option to victims of family violence and sexual assault; and,
•created an offense for serial domestic violence; two or more assault charges within a 12- month period, is a felony.
Domestic violence is everyone’s business. I am very proud to support the efforts of the Shelter Agencies for Families in East Texas (SAFE-T), which reaches out to abused women and children in the area by providing shelter services and counseling.
If you, or someone you know, are a victim of domestic violence, help is available. The number for the National Domestic Violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE. Locally, the numbers for SAFE-T are 903-572-0973 for the Mount Pleasant Area, 903-439-0325 for the Sulphur Springs Area, and 903-783-1313 for the Paris Area.
It is never too early to get help if you find yourself in an abusive situation. Abuse affects everyone in our communities and we must all come together to stop this epidemic.
State Rep. Mark Homer, D-Paris, respresents District 3 in the Texas Legislature.
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