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Eliminating the violence

  • Published
  • By Sgt. Adrian Borunda
  • 123rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Since 1987, October has been observed as Domestic Violence Awareness Month with the intent to mourn those who have died because of domestic violence, celebrate those who have survived it and to connect those who continue work to end the violence.

Christina Pires, a domestic abuse victim advocate, and Tara Dick, a Family Advocacy Intervention Specialist, are two of those serving here in the Family Advocacy Program office working to end the violence.

"While we do love to work one on one with people, one of our main goals here is to work on getting people educated and preventing things before a bigger situation occurs," Pires said. "We do that by talking to unit commanders, training security forces and legal departments."

This training and education helps clarify that domestic violence is not limited to physical abuse, but includes other types of violence that's harder to notice.

"Sometimes people don't really understand what domestic violence is. They think that domestic violence means a person is getting hit, or kicked or punched or strangled," Pires said. "They don't always recognize that there is emotional violence, and there's verbal violence and psychological violence and that they all sort of play into each other."

One of the main problems the Family Advocacy office faces is that service members are not always aware they are there to serve all Airmen, Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Coast Guardsmen.

"We are getting the word out and doing preventive classes to try and teach families some skills to help prevent domestic violence like anger management and stress management," Dick said.

Dick also said the Family Advocacy Program's ultimate goal is the safety of families, victims and children and to prevent the domestic violence cycle to continue through out younger generations.

For more information about the resources available to families and victims, contact the Family Advocacy Program at the 87th Medical Group at (609) 754-9680. Office hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.