DeKalb County Calls on Public to Help Combat Domestic Violence
Between 2003 and 2010, 67 people died in DeKalb County because of domestic violence.
DeKalb Solicitor General Sherry Boston is calling on the public to help recognize the problem and combat it. Her office will host a forum on domestic violence on Friday, October 12, at 8:00 a.m.
Boston says deciding whether to get involved with a problem between people you don’t know well – or at all — can be a tough call, but it’s a call that can save lives.
Boston offers this advice if you think you are witnessing an act of domestic violence or a situation that might lead to it: “If you get that feeling that something isn’t right, or you would say to yourself, ‘I would do something if that were my child, my mother, that’s where calling the police or calling an agency to come find out what the situation is important.”
If you are a victim, that phone call is all the more important. After more than five years of abuse, Angie Mintah says the fact that her abuser was also starting to hurt her children is what finally made her make that call.
“You need to see what’s happening, recognize it, make a plan, and get yourself safe,” said Mintah, who now works as a counselor to other domestic violence victims.
The forum runs from 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, in downtown Decatur. It will include the documentary, Telling Amy’s Story, about a domestic violence case.
Speakers will include Magistrate Court Judge Nora Polk, DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown, and DeKalb County Police Sergeant Marne Mercer as well as representatives from several organizations that provide resources to fight domestic violence.
Verizon Wireless is sponsoring the event and will provide breakfast. Attendees are asked, if possible, to bring an old cell phone, as Verizon recycles them to assist domestic violence victims.
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