Renton hosts education series on domestic violence awareness during October

RENTON, Wash. - October is recognized as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This year in western Washington, the campaign has extra urgency.

32 people in King County died in connection with domestic violence last year, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. That’s the highest number of DV deaths ever since the prosecutor’s office began tracking the data in 1997.

The office’s Data and Analytics Unit said prosecutors have received 1,111 felony domestic violence referrals from police so far in 2023, in which 14 people have died.

Community advocates said they believed the root cause of domestic violence starts at an early age. However, they said that awareness and conversations about DV aren’t happening in most homes or schools.

"Doing this work in this city, we can see that some of those DV instances, some of those violent instances start in grade school. And unfortunately, that is attributed often times to intergenerational trauma, which could also be why we’re not having some of those conversations," said Katya Wojcik, co-founder and executive director of Project Be Free.

Renton Chamber of Commerce is offering a safe space to have conversations. During the month of October, the chamber is hosting its second annual Domestic Violence Awareness Education Series. The chamber will hold five free events on Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24 and 26 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The Chamber of Commerce is located at 625 S 4th Street in Renton.

Darlene Larsen, a chamber representative, said the series provides free educational tools and resources to the community.

"It’s important to make sure that the resources are out there for people that do need it," said Larsen. "You might not know that you’re being groomed or have somebody in your life that has tendencies that is abuse that could escalate. So, we want to make sure that everybody has the education and the knowledge to empower them to have the victory to break out of it."

Project Be Free is a nonprofit in Renton providing crisis response to victims. The group contracts with the City of Renton, Renton Police Department and Newcastle Police Department providing an alternative non-police response to DV incidents.

"We feel like when a city and a family and a household gets to experience us as a team, navigating a lot of those resources, navigating a lot of those family intergenerational instances, we can come together and really heal our families," said Wojcik.

The nonprofit’s executive director said people understand that domestic violence happens. However, the public isn’t always informed about how DV abuse can change and evolve with the times, especially when it comes to technology.

"A lot of our survivors will call us and say that they’re being tracked by technology. And I think that often times we don’t know that unless we’re in such instances. So, I think it’s good to give the education to community members that domestic violence is more than just physical abuse. And in order for us to help heal people, in order for us to help create awareness as well, we have to speak to all parts of abuse," said Wojcik. "I think a lot of trauma and a lot of unhealthy cycles can be broken if people are curious."

Project Be Free will be the first of the five organizations featured during the educational sessions. Wojcik said Project Be Free has already responded to 355 crisis calls this year, but said that would quickly escalate.

"The holiday season is great, and also it’s an increase of domestic violence instances. So, as a team we are preparing for the winter months of instances that will increase DV situations. For instance, people can become homeless during the winter seasons and, of course, that can increase instances of fights," said Wojcik. 

More information about the education series is available on the Renton Chamber of Commerce website.