Domestic violence costs Lyon County a minimum of $150,144 a year — this does not include multiple assaults, medical or mental health services or employer cost because of loss of productivity.
The Lyon County Coordinated Community Response Team and SOS spent the past five years formulating the Intimate Partner Domestic Violence Primary Prevention Plan which runs from 2009 to 2017. Lyon County is the first county in Kansas to complete the plan, which is sponsored by the Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA). The project is funded by the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lyon County’s Community Response Team is composed of members of law enforcement, mental health, education, community corrections, social services, legal services, health care, community representatives and the criminal justice system. The group spent the past 18 months studying data for Lyon County and the risk factors that exist here.
Angie Morey, DELTA coordinator for Lyon County, said domestic violence doesn’t just affect the victim. It affects the economy, the employer, health care services and several other areas. In 2006, SOS served 441 women and 144 child victims of domestic violence in Lyon County. However, this number is low due to the fact that domestic violence is severely underreported, Morey said.
In 2006, the estimated number of victims of emotional and physical abuse by an intimate partner in Lyon County was 1,239, based on a Docking Report. The estimated number of victims of physical abuse by an intimate partner is 184, based on a National Violence Against Women Survey. SOS served 441 women in 2006, while the number of incidents reported to law enforcement was 184.
Morey said Emporia has had a lot of risk factors in recent years and changes and uncertainty cause a rise in domestic violence.
“Emporia has been bombarded with the Menu scare, Tyson cutting down, Modine and Dolly Madison,” Morey said. “There have been a lot of stressful events that have increased the likelihood of domestic violence.”
Deborah Zelli, prevention projects team leader with the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence, said the completion of the plan for Lyon County is a first in the state and is a big achievement.
“Emporia has a lot to be proud of, especially with all the changes that are going on,” Zelli said.
With the condition the economy is in, the development of the plan is timely.
“I think this is a key moment to be launching a plan,” Zelli said.
The community response team identified several risk factors in Lyon County. These included:
- Belief in strict gender roles.
- Perpetrating psychological aggression (psychological violence). This occurs when power is used and abused by one individual to dehumanize the person.
- Low academic achievement.
- Young age.
- Low income.
- Stressful events.
- Weak community sanctions.
- Negative portrayal of women in media.
To address the risk factors, the community response team formulated a comprehensive plan that comprises short-term and long-term goals.
Among the goals of years one to three:
- Selected Lyon County school youth will be educated about and encouraged to develop healthy relationship skills. DELTA programming will focus on ages 11-17. Morey said the strongest impact is seen in this age group of preventing domestic violence.
- Selected Lyon County school youth will be educated on and engage in empowered bystander behaviors. “If you see something you know is wrong you can say, ‘I don’t agree with this, please stop,’” Morey said.
- The community response team will encourage collaboration among agencies and individuals to address risk and protective factors in youth through prevention initiatives.
- The community response team will increase its capacity to promote primary prevention of intimate partner violence by increasing the number of participating agencies involved in prevention.
- The community response team will work toward stronger community sanctions for perpetrators.
- SOS will increase its capacity to act as leaders in promoting the development of the primary prevention of intimate partner violence in Lyon County and other counties they serve.
- The community response team will launch a social marketing campaign focusing on the norm of healthy relationships.
Among the goals of years four to six:
- Youth leadership for intimate partner violence/teen dating violence will be developed and supported to promote healthy relationships.
- Staff in selected Lyon County schools will receive education in intimate partner violence prevention and will use the education to promote healthy relationship behavior among students.
- Targeted schools in Lyon County will develop and adopt behavioral supports for empowered bystander and healthy relationship behaviors.
Long-term goals and objectives for years seven to eight:
- Guardians and concerned adults in the lives of Lyon County youth will be educated regarding teen dating violence and encouraged to have healthy relationship discussions with youth.
- Targeted schools in Lyon County will develop and adopt healthy relationship and respect policies to address intimate partner violence and dating violence in school settings.
- Targeted school districts in Lyon County will adopt district-wide sustainable healthy relationships programming for grades K-12 as a policy initiative.