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Orie Leads Rally to Mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month
HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania
needs to build on successful efforts to prevent domestic violence and encourage
more health care professionals to be alert to signs of abuse, according to Sen.
Jane Orie (R-40), who today led a rally at the state capitol to focus greater
attention on the issue.
Orie joined legislators, health
care professionals, law enforcement officials and domestic violence
organizations across the state to mark October as Domestic Violence Awareness
Month in Pennsylvania.
The event is intended to
encourage and support doctors and health care professionals in their efforts to
detect and prevent domestic violence and to provide help to victims. It is also
intended to focus public attention on a crime that often goes undetected and
unreported.
At the rally, Orie announced
that she will be introducing legislation to establish a statewide,
multidisciplinary team of experts to examine a wide range of data arising from
domestic violence fatalities, with the goal of developing new and better ways to
intervene to prevent these tragic deaths. The team would study such data as
criminal records, court documents, media reports, guardianship reports, victim
impact statements, law enforcement records, and other investigative reports.
“In 2004, at least 110 victims
were murdered in acts of domestic violence in Pennsylvania. An additional 43
perpetrators either committed suicide or were killed during the commission of
domestic violence,” Orie said. “Yet Pennsylvania does not currently have
mandated reporting for domestic violence incidents. We simply must have more
complete and accurate information.”
Orie is Senate sponsor of a
resolution setting the month of October as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month in
Pennsylvania.”
The senator has been a leader
in state efforts to prevent domestic abuse and provide more protections to
victims. She is author of the “Domestic Violence Heath Care Response Act” –
which makes Pennsylvania the first state in the nation to establish universal
screening in selected hospitals.
“We need to continue to shine
the light on this terrible crime – to raise awareness and provide victims with
the help and support they need to break the cycle of abuse,” Orie said.
 
Sen. Jane Orie leads an Oct. 26 rally in the
Capitol rotunda to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
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