Mayors Sign WRAP Proclamation

Hardeman County Mayor Jimmy Sain and Bolivar Mayor Julian McTizic signed a proclamation on October 22 designating October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
As West Tennesseans struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, most understand that staying at home when possible can help limit the spread of the virus and thus keep them safer. Unfortunately, for many in the community, while staying at home may keep them safer from contagion, it exposes them and their children to more abuse. The social isolation that keeps so many safer from the virus actually increases the risk of danger for those with abusive partners.
In the United States alone, one in four women will be the victim of domestic violence at some point in her lifetime, and, on average, three women are killed every day at the hands of a current or former intimate partner. In Tennessee, 85 victims were killed by an intimate partner in 2019, and we are again in the top five in the nation for domestic homicide; we have been in the top ten every single year since 2001. In West Tennessee, more than 50% of all crimes against persons are crimes of domestic violence, and of the almost 2,000 unique victims served by WRAP in 2019, more than half had at least one child. Tennessee’s Sycamore Institute has indicated that Domestic Violence is in the top five adverse childhood experiences for children in Tennessee, adversity that could undermine the health and well-being of these children throughout their lives.
“Domestic abuse remains a hidden problem in our communities,” Daryl Chansuthus, Executive Director of WRAP explained. “It is characterized by silence—silence from those who suffer, silence from those around them, and silence from those who perpetrate abuse. This silence is corrosive; it leaves women, children, and men carrying the burden of shame. It prevents them from speaking out about their abuse, and it prevents them from getting help. At its worst, it can be fatal. That’s why National Domestic Violence Awareness Month is so important.”
This October, WRAP encourages community members and professionals to “Go Purple” during the month. Wear purple and illuminate your businesses, and neighborhoods with purple lights showing support for domestic violence survivors and families, working to build safe, stable, nurturing relationships, families and communities where violence in the home is simply not tolerated. Visit their webpage @ wraptn.org or on Facebook @wrapwesttn or Instagram @wrapbelieves. Use #EndViolenceChangeLivesGiveHope or #WRAPTN to post “Go Purple” pictures.