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Hernando Today

Domestic Violence Is Everywhere

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By LINNEA BROWN

Hernando Today

Published: October 2, 2008

SPRING HILL - Wednesday afternoon, a slender blonde woman in business attire stood proudly in front of an audience at the Palace Grand in Spring Hill.

Brooksville resident Barbara Venditto told the audience how she has a successful job, recently graduated from college and is determined to attend law school. She talked about how her son is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force and how her daughter just graduated from college as well.

It's a far cry from where she was 23 years ago, with a premature infant and a young child, trapped in a cycle of horrific domestic violence.

When police responded following a knife attack at gunpoint, she finally made the decision to leave - and a domestic violence shelter saved her life, she said.

"That's when the Dawn Center is needed most," Venditto said, speaking of Hernando County's center for domestic and sexual violence.

The Dawn Center - one of 42 certified domestic violence centers serving Florida's 67 counties - has been serving Hernando County residents since the late 1980s.

The shelter - which has top security in place to protect residents and is located in a private, undisclosed area of the county - has 40 beds and several cribs that are typically filled, though occupancy changes daily. Many women bring their children and some have given birth while living at the shelter.

Wednesday, Venditto was one of three survivors of domestic violence who spoke at the shelter's annual awareness luncheon, held the same day Florida Gov. Charlie Crist proclaimed October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Since Hernando County has the highest rate per capita in the state of victims of domestic and sexual violence, the awareness event hit particularly close to home.
Dawn Center resident Mary Beth Stanley, 29, who now lives at the shelter with her infant daughter, told of how the center took her in when the shelter in Citrus County was full.

"I am extremely fortunate to be able to stay here while I am mended," she said. "I don't want my daughter to ever know what its like to (be abused)."

By Florida law, "domestic violence" means any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another family or household member.

Defined more loosely, domestic violence is a complex form of power and control, and is often passed through generations. It destroys victims' self confidence, causes developmental delays in children and continues for numerous reasons.
Venditto recalled the first time her husband physically abused her was the night before their wedding.

"I'm a preacher's daughter from a small town, and you don't say, 'Mom, I'm not getting married today,'" she said. "In our wedding pictures, you can see the bruises on my neck from where he choked me, picking me off the ground."

She went on to explain some of the reasons many victims stay.

"There was a part of me that said, 'I can make it better,' and 'I failed,'" she said. "The more you get beaten down, the less obvious reality becomes."

The Dawn Center does not aim to rescue women, but to provide an eight-week intervention program to allow victims to heal, build strength and examine their options. Staff members meet with victims and provide resources, ranging from arranging rape examinations and filing injunctions to finding a job and applying for government assistance.

The shelter also operates a 24-hour crisis hotline for victims of domestic violence or rape, with advocates available to talk victims through situations and help them formulate a safety plan.

If a person needs to leave her home and a staff member is not available, deputies from the Hernando County Sheriff's Office will meet her in a safe place and transport or lead her to the home.

"We have to keep providing these services," said Haley Cutler of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who also spoke at the luncheon. "It's vital to this community."

The Dawn Center is constantly facing challenges. Since state funding covers 80 percent of the center's budget, the center's staff must cover the additional 20 percent through private donations and grants.

The center's executive director, Debbie Andrews, estimated she will need to raise $150,000 this year alone.

But for the women the shelter helps, it's worth it.

"I was a speck of dust until a year ago," survivor Laura Parfrey told the audience. "Without you, I wouldn't be here."

For information about the Dawn Center or its services, go to www.dawncenter.org.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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