The Dixie Sun

Issue date: 11/2/09 Section: DSC News

Media Credit: Photo Illustration by Bryan Uhri One in four females, 18-25 years old, say they have been abused. If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, seek help by contacting a local support center.

Although the St. George crime rate seems to be lower than surrounding big cities, abusive relationships and domestic violence are still a problem many people in St. George face.

Katie Peterson, the director at the Discovering Opportunities Via Escape Center, a St. George shelter for victims of domestic violence, said abusive relationships are just as much a problem in St. George as they are anywhere else in Utah. Last fiscal year, the St. George DOVE Center housed 135 women and 140 children. The center had approximately 500 hotline calls, served 504 outreach clients (clients who did not come into the shelter) and had 4,444 nights total of people staying in the shelter, Peterson said.

According to the St. George Police Department crime statistics at http://www.sgcity.org/police/crimestatistics.php, from January 2009 to September 2009, there were 152 reported domestic violence cases involving some sort of assault and 288 total reported cases in 2008.

Police Officer James Schafer said the common misconception in St. George is that domestic violence and abusive relationships are not a problem within the community.

He said: "Overall, a lot of people don't know [about the domestic abuse in St. George] because the community hears about different crimes. It is something we deal with very frequently, and it is definitely on the increase."

Peterson describes abuse as "someone choosing to take control and power over another person." Physical abuse can be described as injuring of any type. However, what many people don't realize is that mental and emotional abuse are just as common and harmful, if not more so. Mental or emotional abuse can include name-calling, manipulation, threatening, undermining one's self-esteem or controlling another person, Peterson said.

"A lot of women will say mental or emotional abuse is worse because with physical abuse, the abuse is there and done; but emotional is ongoing," Peterson said. "If someone sees you and you're hit, they'll believe your story. But emotional or mental abuse, people say 'just change this or that and it won't happen.'"

Continued...

Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools