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The Brunswick News (Georgia)

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
October 20, 2011 Thursday

Shelter aims to stop abuse

BYLINE: Anna Ferguson Hall, The Brunswick News, Ga.
SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS
LENGTH: 477 words

Oct. 20--Day in and day out, Mary Hogan does all she can to combat abuse towards woman.
As executive director of Amity House, a local emergency and transitional housing shelter for abused woman and
children, Hogan continually sees the reality of domestic violence in the community.
Currently, the shelter is operating at capacity, as it has been for months.
"It's a problem in our community that so many try to ignore," Hogan said. "These can be life or death situations, as we
have seen. Domestic violence effects the entire family. "
Domestic violence is, and has historically been, a prime issue for law enforcement, said Glynn County Police Chief
Matt Doering.
"This is certainly a problem in our community," Doering said. "It varies month to month how many calls we receive
about domestic violence, but it is also one of our top reports."
Doering said his staff receives at last one call pertaining to the problem every day. Primarily, the domestic violence
calls county police receive are of men being abusive to women, he said.
In July, of the 5,210 calls county police fielded, 59 related to domestic violence. That does not include the incidents
reported to the Brunswick Police Department.
The following month, county police logged fewer overall calls, only receiving 4,575 calls, but of those, 84 were linked
to domestic violence. Again, it does not include the city numbers.
For as long as he has worked within the county police system, Doering said he has continually fielded reports of men
and women being abusive within the home.
"Domestic abuse and violence, unfortunately, is a consistent issues that our community has to deal with," Doering said.
"We need to do what we can to fight this problem."
However, the issue is not always family members hurting one another. The term domestic violence applies to anyone
living together, meaning it could be roommates, boyfriends or girlfriends being violent.

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Shelter aims to stop abuse The Brunswick News (Georgia) October 20, 2011 Thursday

"It is a misnomer that domestic violence has to be between family members," Doering said. "That is, though, part of the
issue."
Even the Glynn County Commission helps when it can. When it meets at 6 p.m. today, Community Development
Director David Hainley will ask it to authorize a request to sign a 2011 STOP Violence Against Women Act grant
application in the amount of $72,803.
The money is part of a federal act passed by Congress in 1994 to help district attorneys investigate and prosecute acts of
violence against women.
Awarded by the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, the grant would be matched by $24,268 from the
Brunswick Judicial Circuit.
"Violence against woman and children, domestic violence, it's just horrific that this happens," said County Commission
Chair Tom Sublett.
___ (c)2011 The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.) Visit The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.) at
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LOAD-DATE: October 21, 2011
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Copyright 2011 The Brunswick News