Family advocacy outreach aids in domestic abuse awareness Published Oct. 4, 2007 By Airman 1st Class Shane Dunaway 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Domestic Abuse Awareness Month may only last during October, but the staff at the Family Advocacy Office wants to ensure all base personnel and their families are conscious of domestic violence issues year round. "Our mission in family advocacy is the prevention of domestic and child abuse through education programs and reaching out to families before the abuse occurs," said Mr. Jerome Ellis, family advocacy outreach manager. "Our focus is mission readiness and making sure our Airmen are 'fit to fight.' We do this by providing services to families that assist them with the ongoing challenges associated with mission and family." Domestic abuse is verbal, emotional, physical or sexual behavior that is controlling, humiliating, intimidating, threatening, blaming or violent against a spouse, partner or family member. According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, domestic abuse is the single largest cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the U.S., more than muggings, car accidents, and rapes combined. Men are also at risk of domestic abuse. "Our community is not immune and domestic abuse is often referred to as an equal opportunity crime," said Carla Atkins, family advocacy treatment manager. "Even one incident is one too many. Our goal is to continue educating our base population about a problem that can quickly cripple a community." "One out of every four couples will be exposed to some form of domestic abuse in their lifetime," Mr. Ellis added. In order to combat domestic abuse, family advocacy offers multiple ways to help couples cope with the stressors associated with relationships. "We offer several prevention classes, such as couples communication, anger/stress management and parenting classes," Mr. Ellis said. Additionally, the wing has adopted a quarterly program, "Fitness for Life Education Day," in which several prevention classes are made available to all base personnel and their families. All programs are sponsored by the base Integrated Delivery System team which consists of multiple on-base agencies that assist in collaborating to provide synergistic, accessible services to the base community. The IDS team promotes strong individuals and families through spiritual and emotional growth, and mental and physical health. This empowers all community members to not only adapt but thrive on the unique challenges with the Air Force way of life. The programs in place back family advocacy's quest to quell domestic abuse and create a safe environment for families. "We want our community to be a model of what we would consider peaceful homes," Mr. Ellis said. "Hopefully, we'll build relationships that other societies and communities can emulate."