Women Aware

Today, we visited a domestic violence center called Women Aware. This organization provides support for victims through counseling, emergency hot lines, along with other resources and also works to teach domestic violence prevention. They go into different areas of society, such as schools and public centers, to explain the different types of domestic violence and how to recognize the signs of it. The woman who spoke with us, June Michell was a victim herself and also, one of the original founders of the organization. Her and a few other women were part of a victim group that they decided to continue at the end of the allotted six weeks and in turn, created Woman Aware. She shared many interesting points with the group about her perspective as a victim and many of the clients she has worked with in the past. One common theme was the idea that domestic violence truly is a toxic cycle. On the individual level, a woman may be afraid to leave due to fear or financial incompetency. She also brought light to the issue of domestic violence affects on the family level with the fear that it will continue to pass on from generation to generation. In other words, there is a risk that children will absorb the behavior of their parents and possibly result in the same problems in their own relationships. Michell is currently trying to “change the face” of domestic violence and targeting young individuals first.