Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 5, 1995 TAG: 9510050021
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
She gathered her two children and left.
She'd left twice before - after he'd grabbed her head and banged it repeatedly on the base of a staircase bannister, and after he'd launched into a tirade because she hadn't put a T-shirt on one of the children.
Yet she was pleased that O.J. Simpson was acquitted. For all the abuse she'd endured, she believes that just because Simpson beat his wife doesn't mean he killed her.
"I just don't think he did it," said the woman, who asked not to be identified.
The Women's Resource Center, a Total Action Against Poverty program, provides education, support, counseling and emergency housing for victims of domestic violence. Ellen Brown, executive director, watched the televised reading of the Simpson verdict Tuesday with the same sadness she's felt since his arrest last year.
It was sadness for Simpson's children and for the people left behind who feel guilty that they hadn't helped Nicole Brown Simpson sooner, or hadn't said something to someone sooner, Brown said.
But it was the "denial and discounting of dysfunctional situations in our society" that saddened her most, she said.
"That was the hardest pill to swallow. We've become de-sensitized to violence and want to shut it out, turn it off."
Simpson's acquittal came three days into a month set aside to remember victims and survivors of domestic violence. President Clinton proclaimed October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It will be observed in Roanoke today with a candlelight service downtown at Lee Plaza.
"We were taken so far away from domestic violence in this case," Brown said of the Simpson trial. "It seemed like everything turned into a circus instead of dealing with this issue. I hope that people will keep focusing on that and do whatever they can do to correct domestic violence situations."
Last month, The Turning Point - the Salvation Army's shelter for abused women and their children - celebrated construction of a two-room wing that will house up to 60 people
The new wing is a mixed blessing. There would be no need for expansion if the number of clients wasn't growing.
"For the first time, I've had a small waiting list," said Darlene Young, Turning Point director. "There are a lot of people to serve."
A 51-year-old woman came to the shelter a month and a half ago to escape her husband's physical and mental abuse. He'd thrown food at her. He'd hit her with a telephone. He "made me feel I didn't have any brains," she said.
A 74-year-old woman walked into the shelter Tuesday. She'd been abused for years by her husband. She told shelter staff members that he made fun of her, put her down and tried to have her committed.
Young worries that Simpson's acquittal will discourage women from legally confronting their abusers.
"The biggest fear for them is the court system," Young said. "They might fear that a system they already don't have a whole lot of faith in is going to fail them, too.
"And I hope it doesn't send the message to men, 'Go ahead. You may be able to get away with it.'"
TAP's Women's Resource Center will hold a candlelight service for victims and survivors of domestic violence tonight at 7. The service will be at Lee Plaza, at Church and Second streets in downtown Roanoke, regardless of weather. Harriet Russell, executive director of Virginia's Commission on Family Violence Prevention, will be the keynote speaker.
by CNB