National Summit On Domestic Violence Held In Hollywood
HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — A national summit on the subject of domestic violence was held Friday in Hollywood.
The summit hoped to not only discuss prevention but also in finding ways to get victims to speak out. The theme was "Silent no more."
KCAL9's Amy Johnson reported from the summit and said Dr. Phil and his wife Robin were instrumental in putting it all together.
Domestic violence continues to plague our nation and the Southland is no exception.
"A woman is abused every 12 seconds," said Dr. Phil.
But efforts are underway to change all that.
"I think it's something we need to talk about," said Robin McGraw.
She started her Revelation Foundation "When Georgia Smiled" one year ago. She has teamed up with Verizon for a day to connect, inspire and heal.
"The whole goal is to bring together all these different people from around the nation that work in the domestic violence prevention arena and let everybody spark everybody else," Dr. Phil said.
The one day summit on domestic violence prevention created a platform for conversations.
CBS2's Pat Harvey hosted one of the panels.
"When Dr. Phil and Robin ask, you say yes," Harvey explained.
The summit, she believes, is very important.
"You get a number of experts together in one place in one program, where people can get information and they offer solutions," Harvey said.
This is Verizon's sophomore year for the summit but they've helped domestic violence victims for 20 years and have donated nearly 200,000 cell phones and devices that provide a help line to those in need.
"When we see confirmation that our technology can have that kind of impact on society, we are quite happy about that. It validates our commitment to this issue and to the cause," said Verizon's Torod Neptune.
Many experts say talking is the first step at prevention and healing.
"It has been a huge success and very proud to say we were able to stream live and allow the public to tweet with us, interact and tweet questions," said Robin McGraw.
This summit partnership is in its infancy but is committed to the same common goal -- to end domestic violence.