Navajo County Attorney’s Office representative Lynda Young presented a proclamation to the Navajo County Board of Supervisors during their meeting last week, asking the board to declare October Domestic Violence Awareness Month. They did so unanimously.
According to the proclamation read by Young, “Nearly 20 million people are victims of domestic violence, one in three women and one in four men have experienced some form of violence by an intimate partner within his or her lifetime. Intimate partner violence accounts for 15 percent of all violent crime.” She went on to explain that children who witness domestic violence and do not get help, are more likely to become victims or perpetrators of abuse themselves.
“In Navajo County, we recognize the survivors and victims of abuse whose courage inspires us all,” she read, “we re-commit to offering a helping hand to those most in need and we remind them that they are not alone.”
Following the declaration, District IV Supervisor Steve Williams said, “We were reminded of this a couple of days ago in south county where there was a welfare check done on a domestic violence issue and it ended up with a police officer getting shot and someone else losing their life. So, yes, this needs to be in the forefront of our minds and we appreciate what the County Attorney’s Office is doing.”
