SPEECH BY COMMISSIONER COOK
Good morning and welcome to the race on this refreshing morning.
Thank you for choosing to spend the beginning of your Saturday with us and many of the Hope Alliance Team.
Please raise your hand if you are a member/volunteer with Hope Alliance.
Hope Alliance exists to assist those whose lives have been affected by family and sexual violence. This team provides services, safety, and develops partnerships that lead to hope, healing, and prevention.
Abuse in families or dating relationships does not discriminate. It doesn’t matter how much money someone makes, where they live, what color their skin is, nor what sex they are, although females are abused to a higher rate than males.
We usually think of abuse as violent abuse between people and that is a very common form. And it’s costly. In the United States, the estimated cost of violent abuse is between $5-10 billion dollars each year. That includes medical expenses, police and court costs, shelter and foster care, company money spent on sick leave and absenteeism, and money lost due to non-productive time. But most cases of physical abuse aren’t reported and the injured avoid seeking medical care 2/3’s of the time.
9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. A woman in America was just beaten by her partner.
But abuse doesn’t have to leave a mark.