In collaboration with our community partners, the Women’s Fund held a community education event, Understanding the Impact of Violence Against Women & Children in Fond du Lac, on June 21st.
The purpose of the event was to educate the Fond du Lac community on concerning issues facing women and children in the community, specifically domestic violence, and sexual assault. With better awareness and a stronger understanding about the prevalence of violence against women and girls in our community, we are empowering our community to get help and/or provide support as potential bystanders.
Event highlights included:
– Lt. Tony Hahn: Shared insights of the daily work of the Domestic Violence Intervention team, crime statistics (domestic violence & sexual assault) in the city of Fond du Lac, and what the community can do as bystanders.
– Dr. Buck Blodgett: Founded the LOVE > Hate Project after his 19-year old daughter, Jessie, was found strangled in her own home in Hartford, Wisconsin. He was a dynamic speaker with a powerful message – working tirelessly to educate, motivate, and inspire young minds and hearts to add love to our world and end violence.
– Community partners Agnesian Domestic Violence Services, ASTOP & Solutions Center: Through an interactive simulation we learned how we can prevent domestic and sexual violence through working together as a system instead of through individual silos. The interactive activity took participants through real life examples of when first responders of domestic and sexual violence struggled to work systemically and ultimately it came at a cost for survivors and their families.
