Iowa Project Aims to Heal and Prevent Scars of Violence

Actress Carol Burnett once said, “Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.” As the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence and author Kate Iola plan an upcoming public awareness campaign, they hope Burnett’s words hold true.

In October — Domestic Violence Awareness Month — newspapers throughout the state will run public service announcements, each featuring an Iowan who is a survivor of domestic violence.

“We are currently seeking survivors who are open to telling their story,” said Sarabeth Anderson, director of development at ICADV. “Kate [Iola] has volunteered to work with those who come forward to help develop 31 unique stories, one for each day of the month.”

Iola, a business and agriculture writer for Successful Farming magazine, Agriculture Online and the Sioux City Journal, has a master’s degree in molecular pathology and three issue patents. A resident of rural Iowa, she began reporting on foot-and-mouth disease in 1999. A year later, she took the initiative to write a work of fiction centering on the bizarre and true story of that threat. Since publication of her novel, Iola has become someone who regularly and loudly sounds the alarm of agro-terrorism.

The successes have been sweet, but the sour is also a part of her life experience and what drew her to the coalition and this project.

Iola is a domestic violence survivor. She approached the agency in January, asking how she could best volunteer. As a result of that initial contact naming rights for a character in her upcoming novel were placed on the block at an auction in April with all proceeds benefiting ICADV. Although the auction as a whole raised more than $30,000 for the agency, Iola wanted to do more.

“I want to give back,” Iola said in a phone interview. “It wasn’t that long ago that I was provided tremendous support and guidance at a local women’s shelter. It’s important to me to not only return the favor but to help the coalition raise awareness. Many people you meet have been in these types of situations, and I don’t think the public really understands how complex and difficult these types of relationships are to end.”

As a part of the project, Iola will tell her own story. Organizers are hopeful she will be one of many people who come forward.

“There is a misconception that domestic violence happens only to women of a certain educational or socio-economic level,” said Anderson. “We hope this project will have a diverse cross-section of survivors — different backgrounds, races, ages, occupations and economic status. When the series is complete we want Iowans to know that domestic violence isn’t something that just happens to other people.”

In 2005, roughly 24,000 victims of domestic violence were served by ICADV. The agency provided over 100,000 nights in a shelter and fielded over 77,000 calls to a statewide hotline in 2006. There have been 154 Iowans have been killed in domestic abuse murders since 1995.

The coalition, which has an overall goal to end violence in intimate relationships, provides assistance and education to programs that serve battered women and their children, Anderson says.

In addition to the newspaper public service announcements, residents in Des Moines will soon see banners as a part of the awareness campaign. The banners feature stock images of women with occupations below them. “I’m a survivor. I’m your…” appears across the top. The agency logo sits at the bottom.

“We want people to know that anyone can be a victim and a survivor of domestic violence,” Anderson said. “Since 30 percent of American women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend, chances are there are people in your life right now who are survivors of domestic violence.”

At the end of October the completed stories will be combined into a book, proceeds benefiting ICADV. Survivors of domestic violence who would like to tell their story should contact Anderson, (515) 244-8028.