This content was republished with permission from 海角社区app鈥檚 news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for聽听迟辞诲补测.
As Father鈥檚 Day approaches Sunday, some elected officials in Maryland are spreading a pledge to combat domestic violence.
About 40 Maryland state delegates signed their names to a Prince George鈥檚 County poster with a pledge 鈥渢o never engage in any type of abuse 鈥� physical, emotional, sexual, financial or digital.鈥�
Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George鈥檚) led the effort a few days before this year鈥檚 90-day legislation session ended in April. Some of the signatures include Dels. Nick Allen (D-Baltimore County), Kevin Hornberger (R-Cecil), Julian Ivey (D-Prince George鈥檚) and Stuart Schmidt (R-Anne Arundel).
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to model what it鈥檚 like to have healthy, honest relationships, and then go back to our districts, and figure out how we can build our programs that engage with followers of the community in a meaningful way,鈥� Lewis said Tuesday during a domestic violence program in Upper Marlboro.
The county鈥檚 Department of Family Services led the fourth annual Father鈥檚 Day Pledge initiative, collecting 1,500 signatures on about 40 placards that partially surrounded a room at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 112 during the Tuesday event.
Those in attendance acknowledged that signatures aren鈥檛 going to solve the problem of domestic violence, especially fighting a crime when most of the time both partners know each other.
A by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence and Maryland Domestic Violence Fatality Review State Implementation Team notes 58 domestic violence deaths happened in 2021, the most since 2007.
Out of those 58, about 37 were intimate partner victims and about 92% of victims were women.
According to the report, the top five jurisdictions where domestic violence deaths took place in 2021 were: Baltimore City (13), Baltimore County (10), Prince George鈥檚 (9), Anne Arundel (7) and Howard (6) counties.
Some of the more than 200 recommendations in the report to reduce domestic violence include establishing a time limit for 鈥減erpetrators鈥� to gather belongings from a shared home with a spouse or partner; creating family justice centers in all of the state鈥檚 24 jurisdictions; and providing domestic violence training to anyone that works with victims.
鈥淒omestic violence is not just in one area. It鈥檚 not just in certain neighborhoods. It鈥檚 not just in certain municipalities, but it鈥檚 something that we have to address collectively,鈥� said Elana Belon-Butler, director of the Prince George鈥檚 Department of Family Services. 鈥淲e have to鈥tart by having the conversation [and] being willing to embrace people where they are.鈥�
One recommendation Belon-Butler offered is for state agencies such as the department of Health or Human Resources to help spread the word about various programs they and counties provide.
鈥淭hey could just partner with us to help us get the message out to some of the families that they鈥檙e working with,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat and events like this to have conversations to show we have resources available鈥nd make people aware of what domestic violence is.鈥�
