Street roots., April 07, 2017, Page 13, Image 13

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Street Roots • April 7-13, 2017
Page 13
VIOLENCE, from page 9
Spring Musings
by Doug "Wookie" Mareks
Spring is many things
It’s the new life that it brings
The buds on the trees that looked dead in winter
The exploration of the heart
That renews either stale relationships
Or seeks out new ones that blossom
Like the flowers that are presented
To hopefully lifelong partnerships
That is what spring brings
Cherry Blossom Dreams
by Aileen McPherson
Sweet light snows in spring,
Pale pink white blanket covers the ground,
Down through avenues and parks sleeping souls
make no sound,
Covered in beauty and hoping for security,
May your sleep be serene while under the
Cherry blossoms you dream.
as emergency room nurses and religious
leaders being trained to screen for domestic
violence and ask about safety at home.
However, there are many more community
members and service providers who could
be trained to recognize and address
domestic violence.
“The problem is most mental health
professionals don’t know very much about
this,” Huffine said. “They don’t know how to
screen for it very well. They don’t know how
to address it when they see it.”
Huffine says that domestic violence
needs to rise to the forefront of the public
consciousness as a single issue with public
accountability.
He suggests that domestic violence be
approached much as the public community
approached drunken driving, with slogans
like “friend don’t let friends drive drunk,”
organizations such as Mothers Against
Drunk Driving, and public support like free
cab rides on high alcohol consumption days.
This sort of coordinated community
response is needed so that domestic
violence needs is seen as the community’s
responsibility, not the responsibility of
survivors, Huffine said.
“Coordinated community response needs
to be more than just the criminal justice
coordinated community response,” Huffine
said. “That is not adequate. It is a start, but
that is not adequate.”
Policies like the “Oregonians United to
End Gun Violence” bill are a piece of the
puzzle, as well.
“Thinking about gun violence and the
link between domestic violence and mass
shootings,” Nickels said. “If we were to
truly understand that and then build policy
around it, rather than be focused on, ‘We’re
restricting gun ownership,’ if we thought
about it more like, ‘We’re just making gun
ownership safer for communities,’ and really
building policy around what we know to be
true around the root of the problem.”
On an individual level, there is no
formula for the perfect way to support
survivors, but offering support is crucial.
“I think there’s something that each one
of us can do to support survivors, and the
first one is that we listen and believe
survivors when they talk to us about
domestic and sexual violence,” Nickels said.
“So now as a nation, or a community, that
might have to really advocate to sustain
funding for services, believing that this is a
problem worth advocating for is something
that each one of us can do.”
Carsen is now recovering from a broken
back, learning to walk again, and expecting
her first grandchild. She is telling her story
as much as she can to build her strength for
her abuser’s trial, the first time she will
have to see him again.
If she could say anything to her abuser,
she said, it would be this:
“Yes, you broke me in a lot of places, but
I’m still here. And my word can help
someone else. That’s what I’m trying to
do.”
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