Domestic-violence awareness events scheduled

Police stop a man for driving drunk and discover a woman’s bruised and bloodied body in the back of his hatchback. A Wasilla man strangled his live-in girlfriend and their 8-week-old baby boy; an autopsy showed the infant had previously suffered a skull fracture in his brief life. Pictures of a woman with her forehead split open showed what happened when her ex-boyfriend confronted and then attacked her with a knife and a baseball bat in the garage of her mother’s house near Farm Loop Road.

Horrific domestic-violence incidents like these too frequently fill the pages of newspapers. Organizers of two events in October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, are hoping they can change this.

The first of these events is “In Their Shoes,” sponsored by Alaska Family Services, Knik Tribal Council and Chickaloon Village. It is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla.

“Domestic violence isn’t just a situation that happens between two people,” said Rachel Gernat, an assistant district attorney in Palmer who will make a presentation at the “In Their Shoes” event. “The community as a whole should care. If people spoke up for victims and realized domestic violence should be everybody’s business, maybe they’d try a little to end domestic violence.”

The event will feature role playing, survivors’ stories and a presentation about the effects of domestic violence on children. Food and fun events will be available, according to organizers.

The Alaska Christian Conference, a coalition of churches from all over the state, will present “Choose Respect” on the following weekend, Oct. 29-30, at the First Presbyterian Church in Wasilla.

“Unfortunately, we continue to get bad news about it,” said the church’s pastor, the Rev. Henry Woodall. “It continues to be on the rise. We’ll have some presentations about what it is, what the issues are, how the church might respond, help our communities learn more. We’ll have some worship and fellowship time, but really have workshops with social-service groups that work with this every day.”

Alaska Family Services will present a workshop on legal advocacy. Standing Together Against Rape (STAR), Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis and Teens Against Dating Abuse will present information about prevention and risk reduction for children as well as tools and tips for understanding sexual trauma and instruction about healthy relationships and dating violence.

Admission is $10. Meals will be available at a cost of $8 for lunch and $10 for supper, Woodall said.

For more information about the Alaska Christian Conference event, people may call 376-5053 or e-mail wasilla@mtaonline.net. The church is located at 1375 Bogard Road, Wasilla.