Kimm 0:01 Hi, this is Kimm and we are having Conversations with Kimm. And this month we are going to be talking about Domestic Violence Awareness. Sarah 0:12 So what is domestic violence? Kimm 0:15 Domestic violence is basically an assault and battery on an individual, but the individual is somehow related to you, your parents, your siblings, your spouse, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, any of that family relationship, that's what brings it into being a domestic violence. Sarah 0:34 And domestic violence is not just physical? Kimm 0:37 No, domestic violence is not just physical, that's just kind of the one that most people see. Domestic violence can be your taking charge of the other person's finances, like I'm not going to give you money, you're going to have to do what I tell you to do if you want money. It is manipulation, telling you stuff about your children, you're never gonna have your children, it's calling you names. It's isolating you from your family, from your friends, just basically that person is has control over every aspect of your life, and you don't have a way to get around that. Sarah 1:09 So domestic violence in Hillsborough County, is it a big issue? Kimm 1:14 Domestic violence in pretty much any county as a big issue. And a smaller county like us, we don't tend to have a ton of domestic violence cases as far as the criminal side go. But it we do have, we're averaging about two a week. So that's still more than should be happening anyways. Sarah 1:35 What are the legal ramifications of domestic violence? Kimm 1:38 The legal ramifications of having domestic violence charge depending on what your background is, if it is the first ever domestic violence charge that you have, then it is a 93 day misdemeanor fines and costs. You are going to be put on probation for a period of time, you're also going to have to have an anger management assessment, a domestic violence assessment to see what the court can do to help you break that domestic violence cycle. You the domestic violence second means you have another charge on your record means that it is a one year misdemeanor, fines a cost for that, again, with probation counseling, things of that nature. Any third or subsequent arrest would be a felony offense. Sarah 2:20 What kind of programs are out there for people that are victims of domestic violence? Kimm 2:25 There are quite a few programs out in the communities that help domestic violence victims, and we generally talk of women because those are the persons that report it more than men do. Men are victims, but mostly women. They have in our county, they have Domestic Harmony, which is a women's shelter, they can take their kids, they get counseling, they've got a number of number of different services, to help them through their situations. There's other individual counseling, there's all kinds of things that an individual could look for to get help. Sarah 3:00 Why is it important to talk about domestic violence? Kimm 3:03 The biggest thing is for your own personal safety. That's why you want to talk about domestic violence, you've got to be able to talk about what's going on in your family. What's happening to you specifically, because of the simple fact is it becomes violent, and it can and can become very violent, sometimes resulting in murder. A lot of broken noses, eyes, that's a lot of things that we see ribs that happen when things become physical. The individual needs to get out of the situation, which they they are in but it becomes very difficult because of the, victim mentality that they've been put into that they aren't good, they aren't doing these things that they can't function without that they're bad or so you want to be able to make sure that you can, you seek those resources to help you get away from that situation. Sarah 3:53 So how can people in the community support victims of domestic violence? Kimm 4:01 The biggest thing is to reach out and kind of help identify that you know, that this is going on. The problem that you're going to face though, is trying to help that person is then the batterer finds out and the batterer then takes that out, you're meddling out on the victim. So you know you're trying to help but it could cause more problems. So maybe talking to some professionals about how to help an individual that you know, is being beaten being violated. So to try to get some ideas on how that you can reach out and help that person. Sarah 4:37 What is your personal background in with domestic violence? Kimm 4:43 I have been on the board of Domestic Harmony here in Hillsdale County. Obviously in the criminal side I deal with it a lot with the defendants that come through. My mother was a victim of domestic violence when my brothers and were really little, so I understand that she's talked to me a little bit about it. So I understand how that's coming through. I have a lot of clients that are victims of domestic violence and dealing with custody and parenting time issues. So I understand. Sarah 5:10 So what can someone do if they have any questions? Can they give you a call? Kimm 5:14 Yes. If you have specific questions about the legal ramifications of domestic violence and how that affects your, your situation, please give us a call 5177976021. But mostly if you are in that domestic violence situation and you feel in fear, you need to call police and get yourself out of that situation. That's the most important thing that you can do is get yourself and your children out of that situation as hard as it's going to be if you have to. Sarah 5:41 Thank you.