Interview about Domestic Violence Workshop

Article from Jablonecko Daily November 7, 2007

Families Tend to Hide Their Problems

by Karolina Jaskova
Translation by Barbara Bindasova

An argument in the family is a common thing - everyone has experienced it. New Yorker Gail Whitmore along with musician Daniel Dobias came to the Jablonec Vikyr club to discuss with students the difference between an ordinary argument and domestic violence.

Their program, which also included well-known and original songs attempted to show the children how fragile the borderline of domestic violence is and that it does not have to consist of physical abuse only. Students were offered a chance to simulate a family psychodrama and even a slap took place. "All of these cases are strikingly similar to real life. Most of them are like carbon copies," Dobias said. He also collaborates with sexuologist Radim Uzel on comparable cases. "People often know what is going on but they think that it is none of their business," says Whitmore pointing out the indifference of the others to domestic violence. According to her, families tend to hide their problems and so enable the perpetrator to continue with the violence. For those who decide to address their problems there is a telephone number 281 861 580 run by the Centre for Help Against Domestic Violence.

Counselor Gail Whitmore worked for a similar hotline in the USA. The stories she heard and experienced were also part of the discussion called "domestic homicide" that occurred in the Vikyr club.

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