Connecting to Serve and the Ahwahtukee Community Network will be hosting a public meeting on what is being done to address domestic violence from 3 – 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16th, in Phoenix. Panelists will include Councilman Sal DiCiccio from District 6, Officer Randy Hudson of the Phoenix Police Department, Libby Bissa with the Family Advocacy Center and Jennifer Empernado with Empower Hour.
A woman is assaulted every seven seconds by an intimate partner in the United States. Every five minutes a law enforcement officer responds to a domestic violence call in Arizona. Every nineteen minutes an arrest is made and a death related to domestic violence is reported approximately every five days in our State.
According to Councilman DiCiccio: “Domestic violence is a significant issue in Phoenix with over 50,000 police calls a year. We must be a national leader and have instituted a plan making Phoenix the best in the nation addressing and stopping domestic violence.”
The statistics are staggering, adds Sheila Coonen, Executive Director of Connecting to Serve, an area nonprofit which is co-hosting the event: “Every 30 minutes a family is turned away from a shelter due to lack of space in Arizona. In addition to the tremendous human toll, it costs businesses $11,035 every minute of every day due to medical expenses and lost productivity due to domestic violence.” (Statistics from the Center for Disease Control, Costs of Intimate Partner Violence, 2003.)
The meeting is open to the public. Any agency representative or individual wishing to be on the panel may contact Sheila Coonen at 602-541-7440 or email scoonen@connectingtoserve.org.
The Ahwatukee Community Network is part of Connecting to Serve, an area nonprofit that facilitates advocacy on critical issues. They meet the third Tuesday of each month from 3-4:30 pm at Mountain Park Senior Living located at 4475 E. Knox Road in Phoenix. For more information on Connecting to Serve and to learn about volunteer opportunities, visit connectingtoserve.org or call 602-541-7440. For more information, call the District 6 office at 602-262-7491 or e-mail council.district.6@phoenix.gov.