On Tuesday, October 01 at 6:30 p.m. a Candlelight Vigil will be held to kick off Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Vigil will be held at Four Freedoms Monument in Downtown Evansville to honor victims and survivors of domestic violence and to raise awareness of the growing problem in our community and in the State of Indiana.
The vigil is being organized by the Evansville-Vanderburgh Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence in collaboration with Albion Fellows Bacon Center, the YWCA, Holly’s House, Lampion Center and the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office Victim/Witness Assistance Program.
In the last year, several local women have died in alleged domestic violence incidents. In 2012, 64 people died in the state of Indiana due to domestic violence. As part of an alarming national trend, Albion Fellows Bacon Center and the YWCA, both local domestic violence agencies, report that domestic violence continues to increase locally. This increase significantly affects the safety of women in Evansville and the surrounding area.
This crime is a community issue. Community representatives will speak out at the candlelight vigil and encourage our community to step up and do their part to help end domestic violence as well as remind victims where to receive services and find assistance.
For further information on this event or services from any of the aforementioned organizations, please contact Kyle Phernetton, Director of Public Relations with the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at kphernetton@vanderburghgov.org.
