Gov. Tim Kaine proclaimed October to be Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the Commonwealth Wednesday. Domestic violence agencies in Virginia responded to nearly 50,000 crises in 2007, averaging more than 100 each day, pointing to the need for greater public awareness of support services for victims and the importance of efforts to reduce incidents of sexual and domestic violence throughout the Commonwealth.

“There is a critical need to increase public awareness about the psychological, physical and economic costs of domestic violence and to increase support for victims and prevention programs.” says Kaine. “That’s why I pushed for reforms in the law and additional support for victims during the 2008 legislative session. I urge all citizens of the Commonwealth to support domestic violence survivors and their families, to promote programs and organizations that serve them and to participate in community efforts to prevent violence in the home.”

During the 2008 Legislative Session of the Virginia General Assembly, lawmakers at the urging of Kaine passed laws that ensured reimbursement for healthcare providers performing physical evidence recovery kits, banned the use of polygraph tests on victims of sexual violence, required faster reporting of protective orders, and repealed the law that allowed a man to marry a child (14 years of age or older) in order to avoid prosecution for rape of the child.

According to the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, more than 6,000 adults and children were housed in shelters this past year due to sexual and domestic violence incidents. Another 1,800 families were not able to be immediately accommodated in shelters due to a lack of space and were helped by emergency safety arrangements.

Local programs provide a broad range of assistance to those who are affected by domestic violence, including counseling, access to medical and mental health services, education, housing and financial and legal support.

Virginia’s Secretary for Health and Human Resources, Marilyn Tavenner, noted that the state’s Department of Health works in collaboration with Action Alliance on a wide range of prevention programs, on initiatives to teach children and adults about healthy relationships, and on efforts to highlight the community-wide implications of sexual and domestic violence.

“It is important for people at risk to not hesitate to call the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-838-8238, for referral to a program in their area,” says Tavenner.