A workshop on domestic violence helps address the pain of a recent tragedy

We organized a workshop on domestic violence for parents and staff following a recent tragedy which deeply impacted LSA families.  Our staff noticed that parents kept talking about a murder-suicide that took place in the Bronx.  Many of them knew the couple involved, and the incident brought up many questions and difficult emotions. It became a regular topic at our support group over the last few weeks.

In response, our Education and Youth Services director Wendy Miron, reached out to Sanctuary for Families which facilitated the workshop.  Sanctuary for Families is a walk-in center for people who have experienced domestic violence.  The goal of the workshop was to facilitated a discussion, giving staff and clients at LSA a safe space to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and providing them with resources for the future.

The workshop was well-attended, evidence of the great interest among families and staff alike.  “Staff is really interested,” Ms. Miron said.   “They want to know how to talk about it with their clients.”

Andrea Yeriazarian, supervising social worker with Sanctuary for Families, explained that one of the biggest barriers to ending domestic violence is the taboo around talking about it.  “I think domestic violence is something that people think of as a family problem,” she explains.  “It’s really scary to tell someone outside the family, because they don’t want to get their partner in trouble.  But it can be very dangerous if they don’t tell someone.”

1 in 4 women in the United States have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.  It is our hope that, whether directly or indirectly impacted by domestic violence, this workshop can provide staff and families with the language, tools, and resources to address domestic violence in their lives and in their community.