Brenda Villalba, Social Services Assistant, providing information and resources to participant at health fair

Rebecca Arnold, Delaware Nation Tribal Member Care Assistant, and Ambrea Marshall, Delaware Nation CHR Director, greeting participants with T-shirts, stickers, mugs and information

ANADARKO — On October 25, 2019, Delaware Nation Community Health Representative (CHR) Program held a domestic violence awareness health fair for the community of Anadarko, Oklahoma. Booths were set up and stocked with smiling faces, resources and information, stickers, shirts, mugs, silly putty, flu shots, pens and more in the courtroom within the Delaware Nation tribal complex. Many thanks to the staff of Delaware Nation’s Environmental Programs and Social Services departments, Wichita & Affiliated Tribes Health/Tobacco Programs, Fort Sill Apache’s CHR and Special Diabetes Programs, Anadarko Health Department and Anadarko IHS for working with Delaware Nation’s CHR Program to make this event happen and also, a huge thanks to the participants that came to the Health Fair!

What is domestic violence? Domestic violence, or intimate partner violence, occurs when one person causes physical or psychological harm to a current or former intimate partner. It includes all acts of violence within the context of family or intimate relationships. Besides being the leading cause of injury to women in the United States (a woman is beaten every 15 seconds), it is an issue of increasing concern because of its negative effect on all family members, especially children. Domestic violence is not confined to any one socioeconomic, ethnic, religious, racial or age group and knows no geographic or educational boundaries. It also occurs within teenage relationships and among same-sex partnerships. About one out of every four women in America will be physically assaulted or raped by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. In fact, American women are more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped or killed by a male partner than by any other type of assailant. Estimates of assaults on women by partners range from approximately 2 million to 4 million annually in the United States. The majority of women killed at work are murdered by a current or former intimate partner.

 

If you believe you may be in an abusive relationship, here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Have you ever been physically hurt, such as being kicked, pushed, choked or punched, by your partner or ex-partner?
  • Has your partner ever used the threat of hurting you or members of your family to get you to do something?
  • Has your partner ever injured or abused your pets?
  • Has your partner ever destroyed your property or things that you care about?
  • Has your partner tried to keep you from seeing your family, going to school or doing other things that are important to you?
  • Do you feel like you are being controlled or isolated by your partner? For instance, does your partner control your money, transportation, activities or social contacts?
  • Have you ever been forced by your partner to have sex when you did not want to or to have unsafe sex?
  • Is your partner jealous and always questioning whether you are faithful?
  • Does your partner regularly blame you for things that you cannot control, or for his/her violent outbursts?
  • Does your partner regularly insult you?
  • Are you ever afraid of your partner or of going home? Does he/she make you feel unsafe?

 

National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233) to find out about legal options and resources available to you.

Article by Ambrea Marshall, Delaware Nation CHR Director