Ribbons stretch around the light posts of Washington’s Central Park. Photo by Sally Y. Hart – KCII

Ribbons, 4,384 of them, were tied to a string and can be seen twirling lightly in the wind in downtown Washington this month and they have a heavy meaning.

October is domestic violence awareness month, and at the recent Washington City Council meeting Mayor Sandra Johnson read a proclamation supporting education and awareness. Library director and Washington County Domestic Violence Coalition member Debbie Stanton explained what the ribbons represent, “They look really pretty, you know, and that’s a benefit people that go by say, ‘Oh, that’s really nice.’ And they definitely have a deeper meaning, and the reason I know the exact number is because it’s related to Washington County. So, there’s national statistics that one in four women, and one in seven men will be victims of severe violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. So we decided to see what does that look like for Washington County. We know the population of Washington County. Based on the population of our county that amounts to 2,814 females and 1,570 males in our county that will, based on the national statistics, that will wind up experiencing severe violence by an intimate partner.”

On October 13th the coalition is hosting a safe shop at the Washington Walmart. On October 27th an educational symposium is being held at the library, including keynote speaker Vicki Crompton whose teenage daughter was killed by an ex-boyfriend.