Report: Stalking Awareness Month
In 2004, the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) launched January as the National Stalking Awareness Month. Since its inception, the National Stalking Awareness Month has become a unifying force for victim service providers across the country to raise awareness about the serious and deadly crime that victimizes more than one million women and nearly 400,000 men in America each year. Participating in the event for the first time, Domestic Violence Resource Center was the only organization in the state of Oregon listed with NCVC as a participant in this annual month-long event.
As we continued to work on the expansion of our stalking advocacy services, we tested the Month’s possibilities. Among the activities the Protective Orders Advocacy Program staff conducted during the month:
- passing out new stalking kits to new stalking victims seeking services (stalking kits contain a notebook, calendar, whistle, camera, pen, and herbal tea);
- reaching out to law enforcement agencies in Washington County to provide training and information about our stalking advocacy services;
- coordinating a stalking work group with our partner agencies in the Tri-County area;
- making presentations on stalking at various forums, such as Washington County Domestic Violence Intervention Council or Tigard Kiwanis Club;
- working with area domestic violence shelters to offer stalking presentations and trainings on a regular basis;
- posting National Stalking Awareness Month posters around the Washington County Courthouse.
The month culminated with the Stalking Awareness Raffle, which raised $460 for stalking kits and community outreach around stalking. The following companies donated prizes: Creative Memories, Elmer’s Restaurant, Maker’s Mark, New Season’s Market, Red Robin, RoundTable Pizza, Showcase Landscaping, and Verhaalen Painting. Because of the raffle and other activities during the month, several law enforcement and justice system agencies in the County (e.g. Hillsboro and Sherwood Police Departments and the District Attorney’s Office) expressed interest in providing the stalking kits to stalking victims they assist.
If you’d like to find out more about stalking and the services we provide for its victims, call Linda Wedlake, our resident stalking expert, at 503.846.3022. Consider supporting stalking survivors with a contribution. A gift of only $50 will cover the cost of 5 stalking kits! To make a secure and quick tax-deductible donation now, click here. Thank you for your support!
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Journeys of Survival: Sandy M.
