HOULTON, Maine — Every nine seconds, a woman is assaulted or beaten in the United States.
And while those harsh statistics are more common in larger, metropolitan areas, that is not to say Aroostook County is exempt from these violent acts. To raise the public’s understanding as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Hope and Justice Project held its second annual Chalk It Up Event last Wednesday with a ceremony outside of the Cary Library in Houlton.
“This event is one of many being held County-wide to mourn the victims and celebrate the survivors of domestic violence,” said Leslie Gervais, a prevention educator from the Hope and Justice Project.
Hope and Justice Project formed in May 2010 when the Battered Women’s Project underwent a change in name, but not focus. The project continues to work to help people whose family and dating relationships are affected by abuse and violence. It also works to provide prevention education and training programs that foster safe and joyful relationships.
Children from RSU 29 and SAD 70 school systems, along with the children in the Cary Library’s After-School Program, contributed artwork to the vigil in the form of handprints. Those handprints are displayed throughout the town, in storefront windows, to portray a commitment to “Draw an End to Violence.”
The handprints signify the child’s pledge to keep their hands gentle as they mature through life. Many of those handprints will remain on display at the Cary Library throughout the month.
“The support from our community is always a wonderful thing,” Gervais said. “My wish is for people to remember the many stories of abuse told over the years. I look forward to the day when we can share love stories, rather than nightmares. I truly believe our work is good for all of us who are lucky enough to live here in Aroostook County.”
Deputy Chief Darrell Crandall of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department spoke on the many crimes his department has received in his 29-year career in Aroostook County law enforcement.
“I was heavily involved with the issue of domestic violence in the later-half of the 1980s,” Crandall explained. “From 1990 to recently, I was somewhat removed from it (as a member of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency), which I think gives me a unique view of how things have developed.”
From 1985-89, Crandall worked as a member of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department.
“I am sad to say I was indoctrinated early to the reality of domestic violence during that time,” Crandall said. “I had been a deputy for less than a month when I showed up at the scene of a double homicide where a mother and child had been murdered and their house set on fire, which was done by the father and husband, who they should have been able to trust.”
Crandall said, as a 19-year-old deputy, the experience was traumatic for him and has remained with him for the past 20 years.
“I can remember a number of very difficult and uncomfortable situations when escorting victims back to their homes to collect belongings,” he said. “At least in two of those cases, the offender tried to assault the advocates who had accompanied the victims to the homes.”
As his career progressed to a supervisory role, he said on more than one occasion he had employees who revealed they had been victim of domestic violence.
“Law enforcement officers are just like you,” he said. “We are not exempt from the horrors and tragedies that other people face.”
Crandall added he has seen “remarkable improvements” in the way the system as a whole addresses domestic violence.
“I wish I could say we are seeing a reduction in domestic violence, but unfortunately that is not the case,” he said.
The vigil concluded with a reading of those victims of domestic violence who died in the past year. Those dealing with an abusive relationship can call the 24-hour hotline at 1-800-439-2323.
