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October 17, 2007Author Janine Latus Calls for Victim AdvocacyJanine Latus, author of If I Am Missing or Dead, spoke at A Safe Place’s 27th Annual Dinner on Monday, October 15, 2007 at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort. Latus discussed her heart-wrenching story about the reality of domestic abuse. She explained that one out of four American women will be battered by a partner. Latus encouraged the community to acknowledge the serious problem of domestic violence and understand that domestic violence affects every one of us. Domestic violence is rampant in every ethnic, religious, cultural, socio-economic, and age group. Every person, even if he or she is not aware, knows a victim of domestic violence. In April 2002, Janine Latus's youngest sister, Amy, wrote a note and taped it to the inside of her desk drawer. "Today Ron Ball and I are romantically involved," it read, "but I fear I have placed myself at risk in a variety of ways. Based on his criminal past, writing this out just seems like the smart thing to do. If I am missing or dead this obviously has not protected me..." That same spring Janine Latus was struggling to leave her marriage -- a marriage to a handsome and successful man. A marriage others emulated. A marriage in which she felt she could do nothing right and everything wrong. A marriage in which she felt afraid, controlled, inadequate and trapped. In addition to sharing her personal story, Latus extolled the work of A Safe Place in assisting victims of domestic violence through programs that support them along every step to becoming survivors of this intensely personal crime. Latus emphasized the words of Phyllis DeMott, executive director, who noted that advocates at A Safe Place, “believe and believe and believe in a woman until she can believe in herself.” |
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Everyone has the right to a violence-free, safe and healthy life. Copyright ©2001-2007 A Safe Place. All rights reserved. |
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