- Joy Swetnam
- Posted On
Domestic Violence Awareness Day is Oct. 25
Participating restaurants will be displaying placemats designed by the Lake Family Resource Center Domestic Violence Assistance Program to raise awareness of the issues surrounding DV and ways individuals can help victims of this crime.
“An Empty Place” is a living memorial to women, children and men who have died as a result of domestic violence. The Women’s Resource Center in Scranton, Penn., a center for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and abuse, began the project after a string of domestic violence related murders in 1993.
In Lake County there have been at least six domestic violence-related homicides within the last 24 months.
The idea behind the project is to illustrate the void in the lives of surviving families that domestic violence leaves behind – an empty place at the table. A sister who won’t celebrate another birthday, a mother missing from the Thanksgiving dinner table, or a child who will never graduate from high school.
Because everyone gathers at a table sometime, the meaning transcends ethnicity, race, class and age. Through “An Empty Place,” each victim is recognized for their individuality, while at the same time allowing viewers to view the problem universally; because domestic violence is not limited to any one group.
To mark the day, Lake Family Resource Center and restaurants throughout Lake County are encouraging everyone to call their friends and families to meet for lunch and talk about domestic violence.
The restaurants will have the placemats on the table where you can get information regarding local services for victims and ideas on how you can support friends and living with violence.
Participating restaurants are:
Clearlake – Main Street Bar & Grill, Cactus Grill, and Kathie’s Inn;
Lakeport – Tacos El Rey, Mollie Brennan’s, Ku-Hú-Guí Café at Konocti Vista Casino, and Angelina’s Bakery;
Kelseyville – Classic Rock Café at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, Live Oak Grill, and Saw Shop Gallery Bistro;
Upper Lake – Judy’s Junction and Blue Wing Saloon & Cafe;
Cobb – Brick Oven Pizza and Rob Roy Creekside Restaurant;
Nice – Rancheria Grill at Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino;
Middletown – Brian’s Pizza.
In support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the placemats were used at October program meetings.
Working together, our communities can assure that on this day Lake County residents will be talking in classrooms, offices, homes, and coffeehouses, about the fact that nearly one in three women will be abused in her lifetime. We will tell our daughters that a boy should never hit them, or isolate them from others. We will open a new conversation with an acquaintance we suspect might be suffering in silence.
Law enforcement, women's shelters and government officials alone cannot prevent men from abusing the women they claim to love (or, in statistically fewer cases, women from abusing the men they claim to love). But everyone can take this initiative and make it their own - helping to reach the people whose lives you touch who are victims of family violence.
You can make a difference on Oct. 19. Talk to someone in your life about domestic violence. If you're not sure how to get the conversation started call Lake Family Resource Center to request resource materials – or to talk with a domestic violence family advocate.
Now imagine a day when we won't need to talk about domestic violence ever again.
Please join Lake Family Resource Center in making this dream a reality.
For information about the many family resources at Lake FRC, please call 707-262-1611 or 1-888-775-4336.
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