October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Centre County organizations such as Centre Safe are hosting a variety of different workshops and events this month to help educate people about domestic violence and show their support for survivors.
Centre Safe in State College provides services to victims and survivors of domestic violence to those living in Centre County. They offer a 24-hour hotline and even emergency shelter for those who need it.
“One in four women and one in seven men, who are aged 18 and older in the U.S. have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime, and intimate partner violence alone affects more than 12 million people every year,”
On Tuesday, at the Centre County Commissioners meeting, they formally recognized October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the county.
“I think it’s a cultural awareness that our community doesn’t tolerate this and that we have the resources and the mindset that we’re going to make sure that people are kept safe,”
Some of the events include ‘Smarter Parents’ workshops, which they say are to prevent child sexual abuse, and ‘Purple Thursday’ on October 17, which invites the community to wear purple in support of domestic violence survivors.
“People often struggle with the fact that a victim may not leave their abuser, or leave right away, we may like to think that we know exactly what we would do in these situations and how this would never affect us, but quite frankly we don’t get to say that,”
Pencek says that in 2023 Centre Safe supported more than 900 clients in Centre County experiencing domestic violence. While they are based in State College, she emphasized that their services are for everyone in Centre County.
“All someone has to do if they’re able to is just connect with us and we can work with them one-on-one Any barriers that they might have whether it’s transportation, whether it’s ‘I’m down in Phillipsburg,’ we’re not going to
let those types of barriers get in the way of them being able to get help,”