Conn. Officials Back New Effort To Curb Domestic Violence
SIMSBURY, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) - U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and other well-known Connecticut men are lending their support to a new domestic violence awareness campaign.
Members of the group "Men Make a Difference, Men Against Domestic Violence'' are scheduled on Friday to join representatives of Interval House, a Hartford-based organization that provides services to victims of domestic violence, to unveil the "Stay Safe, Pass it On'' campaign.
Sen. Blumenthal said changes can be made by presenting role models.
Conn. Officials Back New Effort To Curb Domestic Violence
"Showing them that domestic abuse, violence at home is not cool, it's not savvy. It's something to be avoided," Blumenthal told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau. "The most telling statistic here is that more than 70 percent of men who commit domestic abuse have seen it or experienced it in their own lives."
Then-Attorney General Blumenthal co-founded the group in 2009.
Besides Blumenthal, Attorney General George Jepsen, Central Connecticut State University basketball coach Howie Dickenman and Dr. William Petit, whose wife and two daughters were killed in a 2007 home invasion, are scheduled to be on hand for the event planned in Simsbury.
Jepsen said the campaign is aimed at changing th culture to end domestic violence.
"We need to change the culture that surrounds the issue from it being instead of just a spat between spouses to what it is, which is an effort by men to control and dominate," Jepsen told Schneidau. "Men need to understand that it's something unacceptable - to use violence as a means to control or dominate or to resolve any kind of domestic dispute."
Several television and radio personalities are also expected to participate.
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