The Navy urges Sailors to prevent domestic violence The Navy urges Sailors to prevent domestic violence
Friday, October 13, 2006
By MC2 Alexis R. Brown - Navy Compass Staff
Domestic Violence Awareness / Part one of a two-part Domestic Violence series
While October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the effort to educate service members and their families about domestic violence, and how to prevent it, is a continuous process.
Family support and advocacy centers, as well as various civilian organizations within the San Diego area, have teamed up to provide the necessary resources, counseling and support to individuals and families that are involved in an abusive situation.
This year's theme is "Take a Stand, Prevent Domestic Violence: Help Stop It Before It Starts."
Karen Norkowski, Family Justice Center military liaison said statistics show that there has been a drop in domestic violence reports within the civilian and military community, but education needs to continue.
"A lot of people don't actually know that they are in a domestic violence situation because they don't understand the power and control aspect of domestic violence.
I
f they haven't been assaulted like punched, kicked, slapped grabbed--that type of thing, they don't believe that it is domestic violence," Norkowski said.
It is a matter of explaining what the signs and symptoms of abuse are Norkowski added.
Naval Base San Diego Family Advocacy Site Dr. Morris Touriel agreed with Norkowski and said so many resources are available to the offender or the victim and their family.
He said, "We are one of the programs that the Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) offers. Essentially, when there is a family that has experienced some type of abuse which include spouse and child abuse, the advocacy center by instruction is where the case is referred."
"We get victims that walk in the door and we get offenders looking for help that come in the door. When that happens, a whole list of services kick in," Touriel said.
Each domestic violence case is assigned a case worker and a victim advocate within the first 24 hours. Touriel said that depending on the case, it might require a victim leaving the area and/or medical evaluations being done.
"A part of the assessment could be if they are experiencing financial difficulties or if they are having problems with parenting or maybe even substance abuse."
He said that the primary job is to assess each case to better serve the family and provide whatever support system the victim or offender may need.
Touriel explained that there are a variety of stressors that could lead up to domestic violence and although, the center is available to assist anyone needing help after an attack, there are resources in place to prevent an attack from happening.
FFSC Counseling, Advocacy and Life Skills Supervisor Jeffrey Erkenbeck said the FFSC's role is to offer the required DV Prevention General Military Training to all commands.
"This brief defines what domestic violence is, its causes and effects, how it affects a command, what to do if you or someone you know is in a violent relationship, and what we can all do to prevent domestic violence," he said.
Erkenbeck added, "FFSC recognizes that it is important couples, not just individuals, receive training and information. Our goal is to reach out to dependents as well as active duty when addressing domestic violence prevention. This includes offering classes in Couples Communication and Couple Conflict Resolution."
FFSC offers some of the classes in evenings as well as during the day. They are also working with Navy housing in the San Diego area to hold classes in the community.
For more details about domestic violence and where to get help, contact your local FFSC for more details.
http://www.navycompass.com/news/newsview.asp?c=197219
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