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.