Our Hillsider intern, Sam Elmquist, attended a presentation about Domestic Violence. Here is his post.

Power and Control Wheel

October is nationally recognized as violence against woman awareness month. In honor of this I attended a presentation about physical violence against women, more particularly about a women’s shelter here in Duluth called Safe Haven. The shelter works with men, women, and children involved in abusive relationships. Safe Haven provides a safety net which allows women caught up in abusive relationships to come and stay at the shelter, hopefully allowing them the time they need in order to try and settle themselves as individuals. Specifically they give these women a place to stay and time to figure out what it is they want to do.

Various support groups help them realize the situation they are in and give them the chance to relate with other women who are going through similar circumstances. The shelter offers women looking for help up to thirty days to figure out what it is they want to do, this is not necessarily a time limit because the shelter is willing to make exceptions for women who need more time and are seriously committed to change.

Read the whole post here.