Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Hotline Hopes Bystanders Will Take Action On Domestic Abuse

Ohio Public Radio

An anti-family violence center in Columbus is unveiling a new resource to help people who think they might be witnessing domestic abuse -- but aren’t sure. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow reports.

Curtis: “Where’s the line? This is Kiersten, how can I help you?”

Kiersten Curtis is hoping to be on the front lines of the battle against family violence. She’ll be on the other end of phone calls made to a new hotline for people who think they might be seeing or hearing domestic abuse.

The hotline is being launched by the Center for Family Safety and Healing in Columbus. The group’s chair—Abigail Wexner—says the hotline is focusing on anyone who observes what they think might be abuse.

Wexner: “Most would ask why, ‘why is the bystander so important?’ 60% of us, 60% of people in this country have been a bystander, witness to some type of abuse. And by focusing on the bystander by empowering people to be able to recognize family violence, to recognize child abuse we hope to encourage reporting.”

The tipline effort is dubbed as the “Where’s the Line?” campaign. Advocates say that’s because many people don’t know if they are—for example—witnessing abuse of a child or an act of parental discipline.

Karen Days, the center’s president, says the hotline will connect callers with information they need to help decipher what they’ve seen or heard about.

Days: “Bystanders say that they’re not getting involved in things not because they don’t care—most of them don’t know what to do.”

That’s where Kiersten Curtis at the call center comes in. She can receive calls, texts or instant messages from eyewitnesses.

Curtis: “We have lots of information that we can offer people to get them to the appropriate service agency so we’re just the bridge to put them with the people that they can actually get hands on help with.”

The center ensures that anyone who contacts the tipline can remain anonymous. Days says increasing the amount of people who show that they’re concerned is a vital step in helping victims.

Days: “It changes the way victims see themselves. They say ‘if somebody else cares about this then it’s important.’ Most victims will tell you they did not know that they had anybody that cared about them until the first time somebody got involved to help them.”

As the Center for Family Safety and Healing moves forward with their campaign—Days says there are other changes she’d like to see, including stiffer sentencing for offenders based on the deadly potential of a situation.

Days: “We have a new lethality assessment program called ‘LAP’ which will give us a score as to how lethal we think a situation is going to be we hope the judges utilize that and understand that in setting bond and also making sentencing decisions because when it’s more lethal it’s more lethal.”

The center will begin airing public service announcements to spread the word on their new hotline.

The Statehouse News Bureau was founded in 1980 to provide educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations. To this day, the Bureau remains the only broadcast outlet dedicated to in-depth coverage of state government news and topics of statewide interest. The Bureau is funded througheTech Ohio, and is managed by ideastream. The reporters at the Bureau follow the concerns of the citizens and voters of Ohio, as well as the actions of the Governor, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Supreme Court, and other elected officials. We strive to cover statehouse news, government issues, Ohio politics, and concerns of business, culture and the arts with balance and fairness, and work to present diverse voices and points of view from the Statehouse and throughout Ohio. The three award-winning journalists at the bureau have more than 60 combined years of radio and television experience. They can be heard on National Public Radio and are regular contributors to Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace. Every weekday, the Statehouse News Bureau produces in-depth news reports forOhio's public radio stations. Those stories are also available on this website, either on the front page or in our archives. Weekly, the Statehouse News Bureau produces a television show from our studios in the Statehouse. The State of Ohio is an unique blend of news, interviews, talk and analysis, and is broadcast on Ohio's public television stations. The Statehouse News Bureau also produces special programming throughout the year, including the Governor's annual State of the State address to the Ohio General Assembly and a five-part year-end review.
Related Content