Victims' advocates try new ways to create safe space to escape domestic violence

While awareness about domestic violence and resources to help victims has continually increased, the danger has not decreased, as two recent stories, in Wake and Orange counties, demonstrate.

Posted 8:13 p.m. Sep 10, 2019 — Updated 10:13 p.m. Sep 10, 2019

Amanda Lamb

, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — Every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted or beaten in the United States.

About 10 million people a year are the victims of violence at the hands of an intimate partner.

Last year there were 52 domestic violence homicides in North Carolina. There have been 22 so far this year.

While awareness about domestic violence and resources to help victims has continually increased, the danger has not decreased, as two recent stories, in Wake and Orange counties, demonstrate.

Ann Kirkpatrick, who was found dead in her yard in Orange County Sunday, had active protective orders against her estranged husband and a man she dated. No one has been charged in her death.

Carl Barkley is accused of stabbing his wife and three children with a butcher knife at their Wake County home on Sunday night.

Victims' advocates advise taking the first step to stop the abuse: Filing for a protective order.

That doesn't always mean going to the courthouse. At INTERACT, a local support group in Wake County, victims can get help with filing a protective order at the same place they find sanctuary and advice.

"This is really a safe space for them to do everything," said Rachel Gonwa, INTERACT director of planning and strategic development.

Clients can even make an appearance in front of a judge through video-conferencing from INTERACT.

The protective order is only a single step on the long road to escape abuse.

"Sometimes it might be the best choice of action to get a protective order, but there might be safety risks involved in that," Gonwa said. "We know that leaving is an incredibly dangerous time. Individuals are 75 percent more likely to be injured or killed when they're leaving a domestic violence relationship."

Gonwa says the key for abuse victims is to make a plan about how to be safe through every step of the process.

"There's safety planning you can think about when you're in the relationship, there's safety planning when you want to leave it, there's safety planning when you've left the relationship and what that looks like," she said.

INTERACT encourages victims to reach out to them or a support agency like them for help to make that safety plan. Agencies can answer questions like where will you go, a family or friend's house? Are you safe there? Are you safe at work?

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