MONTICELLO –– Nearly half of women murdered in the United States are killed by their intimate partners. Nearly four million American women are victims of abuse each year. Furthermore, one woman, every 15 seconds, is assaulted by their intimate partner.

These were some of the statistics shared in a presentation to legislators by MacKenzie Bachar, the Advocacy and Education Director for Fearless! Hudson Valley, formerly known as Safe Homes of Orange County, at Thursday’s Health and Human Services Committee meeting. Legislators, in a proclamation, designated October 2022 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and recognized Fearless! Hudson Valley’s “invaluable work.”

In 2021, some of what they’ve done includes answering 11,123 hotline calls, sheltering 54 adults and 39 children, providing 3,833 bed nights in their emergency shelter, serving 2,458 adult clients and 3,009 children through all agency programs and they provided 23,276 and 8,443 advocacy and outreach services, respectively.

Furthermore, they provided 21,708 supportive services to individual victims and survivors of domestic violence, and created 5,098 individualized safety plans.

Since September 2004, according to the proclamation, there were five women murdered in Sullivan County, as a result of domestic violence. Bachar read their names aloud on Thursday. Their names are: Catherine Novak, Elizabeth Mucci, Ramona Gonzalez, Helen Dutcher and Jailyn Flecha.

Domestic violence can also affect children. For example, additional statistics shared in the proclamation is that one in fifteen children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90 percent of these children are eyewitnesses to that violence. Moreover, child abuse is 15 times more likely to occur in families where domestic violence is present.

There’s also an effect on the workforce. According to the National Crime Survey, it’s estimated that 175,000 days per year are missed from paid work due to domestic violence, which costs an estimated $3 billion per year.
Bachar also provided a few updates on Fearless! Hudson Valley, noting that they now have a full sexual assault services team, as well as a court advocacy team, in Sullivan County.

Health and Human Services Commissioner John Liddle was complimentary of the organization’s work alongside the County.

“To me, what [the presentation] really drives home is this understanding that it can happen to you … it can happen to your son or daughter,” said Liddle. “When folks are victims of bullying and domestic violence and things like that, there’s often a stigma against reporting. The only way these problems can be addressed is if they’re brought out into the open and folks feel supported. And that’s what Fearless! is here to do for us.”

More info about Fearless! can be found at https://fearlesshv.org.