As high-profile cases of domestic violence draw the attention of people across the country, Bellevue’s LifeWire is bringing local awareness and resources to the issue at its ‘Hope Starts Here’ breakfast on Thursday, October 2, 2014 in Bellevue. “We are at a pivotal moment within American culture in which domestic violence, so often a taboo subject, is being addressed on a national level,” said Barbara Langdon, LifeWire Executive Director. “America needs to know that domestic violence is an insidious crime and a national epidemic.”
Langdon cites recent cases involving NFL football player Ray Rice, and stunning video of him hitting his fiancée inside a casino elevator, knocking her out. NFL players Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson have also been arrested in separate cases of abuse. Local women’s soccer player, Hope Solo, has pleaded ‘not guilty’ and is awaiting trial on charges that she assaulted her half-sister and 17 year old nephew. And newly crowned Miss America Kira Kazantsev, a domestic violence survivor, made headlines with her pageant platform of domestic violence awareness.
For 32 years, LifeWire has been addressing the complex issue of domestic violence. “Many of these victims call our helpline and walk through our doors in desperate need of help,” said Langdon. “Domestic violence and sexual assaults account for more than 200,000 visits to hospital emergency rooms across the country each year.” National police statistics show that nearly half of women murdered by their intimate partner had visited an emergency room within two years of the homicide.
Janine Latus, award-winning journalist and author of the book, If I Am Missing or Dead: A Sister’s Story of Love, Murder and Liberation, will deliver the keynote speech at the ‘Hope Starts Here’ breakfast. Latus will share her story of being in a series of abusive relationships for both her and her sister, Amy, which eventually ended in Amy’s death. The LifeWire breakfast will be held at Bellevue’s Meydenbauer Center on Thursday, October 2nd. Jean Enersen of KING 5 News, will emcee the event. Register to attend at www.lifewire.org.
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