The holidays can bring additional stress destabilizing an already fragile and dangerous situation. (Illustration by Zero V)
If you or someone you know has experienced domestic violence, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
You can also contact any of Kentucky’s 15 domestic violence programs.
The holiday season can jeopardize safety plans among people living with intimate partner violence or the threat of it, according to ZeroV, a Kentucky nonprofit dedicated to ending domestic violence.
The organization is cautioning victims and survivors to make adjustments in their safety plans to account for a disruption of routine that comes with holidays.
“What happens on New Year’s, Christmas, that’s just part of a pattern that happens all year round,” Meg Savage, the chief legal officer at ZeroV, said in a statement. “But the holidays can bring additional stress from things like planning, travel, financial concerns associated with gifts, increased alcohol consumption, and traditions of extended family gatherings, any of which may destabilize an already fragile situation.”
ZeroV recommends these precautions:
- Check out the National Domestic Violence Hotline’s tips to help survivors make holiday-specific safety plans.
- If you have an abusive partner, plan to check in with a confidant — and establish a code word, and its meaning, so you can alert that person if you need help.
- Secure your address. Learn more about enrolling in the Kentucky secretary of sState’s address confidentiality program, Safe At Home, here. This program allows victims of domestic violence to hide their addresses when registering to vote without a protective order from a judge. It also allows the state Capitol to be the address on public records and lets those moving from out of state easily join the program.
- Secure your devices from digital tracking. Learn more here.
In 2022, the first of its kind report showed about half of Kentucky women — 45.3% — and around 35.5% of men experienced intimate partner violence — or threat of it — in their lifetimes, the Lantern previously reported.
The 2023 report showed that from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, that number decreased to 44.5% of women and 32.9% of men. There were also nearly 30,000 cases of child abuse with a domestic violence component in Kentucky in a seven-month period in 2023.
Intimate partner violence “is an everyday community-based problem that requires a community-based solution,” Savage said. “Survivors are part of a community — they have friends, family, and co-workers; they have doctors, they have faith-based communities, they live in neighborhoods and their kids go to school. We need everyone in the community looking out for their fellow neighbors, reaching out in a safe way when they see or hear something concerning, and offering support without judgment.”