Rally held to recognize those lost to domestic violence
UNIONTOWN – The ting of a triangle tap rang out every nine seconds as the names of a girl as young as 13 and a man in his 70s were read from a list of lives lost in recent years to domestic violence, during a rally held Monday morning on the Fayette County Courthouse steps in honor of the National Day of Unity. Cathleen Augustine, community education specialist with Domestic Violence Services of Fayette County, said the National Day of Unity begins Domestic Violence Awareness month in October. The nine-second chime of the triangle represented the statistic that every nine seconds a woman is battered in the United States.
The rally “recognizes all the victims, all the people lost and the survivors” and helps “unite the people who fight to end domestic violence,” Augustine said, adding that the day also welcomes family members who wish to remember a loved one lost to domestic violence.
One of those remembered during the ceremony was Mary Elizabeth McCann, 54, of Uniontown, who died in April after her boyfriend allegedly beat her to death with a microwave.
Her sister Edna Dressel and, her niece, Connie Dressel, both of Uniontown, spoke in memory of McCann.
“You don’t know what it’s like once you’re in,” Connie Dressel said of an abusive relationship. “It’s like you’re trapped and you can’t get out. You feel isolated and it’s hard to get away.”
Augustine praised the courage of the two women for speaking out. She said the day’s purpose was to raise public awareness.
“A lot of times it is considered a marital or family problem,” she explained. “We’re losing women every day.”
Psychological and emotional abuse are also considered domestic violence, Augustine said, adding that women often tell her the emotional abuse leaves the deepest wounds.
Tana Hice, an advocate who is studying human development and family studies at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, and interning with the local domestic violence service, said understating the full scope of domestic violence is important.
The stereotypical image associated with domestic violence, a husband beating his wife, is not the only way the abuse plays out. Domestic violence occurs against men and within homosexual relationships, too, she explained.
Dr. Jo Jankoski, Domestic Violence Services of Fayette County board president, said the people who attended the rally were taking a stand against domestic violence and making “the invisible, visible.”
“One more family doesn’t have to grieve the loss of a loved one,” she said. “We all have the responsibility to take that stand, so domestic violence victims don’t suffer alone.”
She said to abuse is to “tear away at the fiber of someone’s being” and those in attendance gained a “sense of empowerment” from the day’s events.
“We’re hoping today is the first step to getting the message out to young men, young women that it’s not OK to hit anybody,” she said. “We can stop the cycle of violence.”
Other events scheduled for October include, a cash bash at the American Legion on Gallatin Avenue in Uniontown on Oct. 7. The agency will also hold a training session from 1-2 p.m. Oct. 16 for business owners on how to help victims of domestic violence.
A 24-hour hotline is available for anyone seeking help. Call 724-439-9500. A support group meets every Thursday from noon to 2 p.m., also. For the location of the support group, call 724-437-2530.