On Monday, October 20, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Downtown On Wednesday, October 22, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Special Assistant to the Borough President Yvonne Graham hosted Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries and Roslyn Bacon, executive director of Jonah Village, to call attention to domestic violence.

Press release from the Office of Assembly Member Jeffries:

ASSEMBLY MEMBER HAKEEM JEFFRIES, BROOKLYN BOROUGH PRESIDENT MARTY MARKOWITZ AND ELECTED OFFICIALS JOIN JONAH VILLAGE TO BRING AWARENESS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October 22, 2008 – Brooklyn, NY – Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries was joined today by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Special Assistant to the Borough President Yvonne Graham, elected officials and Roslyn E. Bacon, Executive Director of Jonah Village, Inc., at a press conference to bring awareness to the issue of domestic violence in Brooklyn and the rest of the city.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Jonah Village is hosting their annual Shirley Chisholm Women of Courage Awards Ceremony. Domestic violence is America’s fastest growing, silent epidemic and America’s number one social disease. Brooklyn is the borough where more Black women are murdered by their intimate partner.

“It’s important that we aggressively confront domestic violence in Brooklyn and throughout the City of New York,” said Assemblyman Jeffries. “Domestic violence is a global epidemic and major public health issue. We all need to play our part in stifling this growing epidemic, and finding solutions to prevent abuse, particularly among teenagers.”

“Domestic violence knows no ethnic, gender or socio-economic boundaries—it’s a crime that is everybody’s business,” said Borough President Markowitz. “That’s why Yvonne Graham and I have made public awareness of the issue of domestic violence a priority here in Brooklyn. I applaud Assembly Member Jeffries and Jonah Village for their advocacy, and hope this event and others like it will be a call to action throughout the year to ‘protect, prevent and prosecute’ so that we can eradicate domestic violence once and for all.”

Incorporated in 2000, Jonah Village, Inc. is dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence in Black youth, ages 13-21 — the beginning of a teen’s romantic life. Family violence, even when not meted out on children, also can leave a severe impact on a young person’s life. While Jonah Village does not have a brick and mortar location, their website, www.jonahvillage.org, Mother’s Day walk and upcoming awards ceremony provide information to help empower young people and inform about the symptoms and warnings of a violent relationship.

According to the National Crime Prevention Council, 13.9% of violent teen dating occurrences happen with Black youth.

“Domestic violence is an equal opportunity attacker,” said Ms. Bacon of Jonah Village. “While domestic violence does not only affect Black families, the extent to which it does exacerbate other social ills of the Black community is significant. One way we can help stop domestic violence is to break the cycle of silence.”

The Shirley Chisholm Women of Courage Awards Ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 25 at the Brooklyn Job Corps Academy, and will honor domestic violence survivor Mildred D. Mohammad, the former wife of D.C. sniper John Allen Mohammad.