Peninsula recognizes Domestic Violence Month

Alaskans face harrowing domestic violence statistics.

About half of adult women in Alaska have experienced violence in their lifetimes, according to University of Alaska Justice Center’s 2015 victimization survey.

In the face of these statistics, October is recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month throughout the state, and at a local level.

At their upcoming council meetings, Soldotna and Kenai’s mayors will issue proclamations to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The joint proclamation states that the month will be recognized in the cities of Kenai and Soldotna and “encourage all citizens to dedicate themselves to learning about reducing domestic violence and violence against women, and encourage all to support the domestic violence programs in the communities, including the LeeShore Center.”

At a state level, Gov. Bill Walker is also urging all Alaskans to “stand together against domestic violence.”

According to the governor’s statement, about 3,600 people have volunteered over 63,000 hours of time to victim service agencies last year, supporting survivors of domestic violence, adults and children.

“There is always some that will answer the phone,” said Barbara Waters of the LeeShore Center, an organization that provides services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault on the central peninsula. The organization staffs a crisis phone line that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The number is (907) 283-7257.

“We also take walk-ins,” Waters said. “So, people can come in and speak to an advocate during business hours and we have a legal advocate at the court house who is there whenever the courthouse is open.”

Waters said that their location on Spruce Street in Kenai is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday for anybody who needs help.

“We help both men and women through walk-ins,” Waters said. “It’s for whoever needs the help. We also have a childcare assistance program.”

At the beginning of October, the LeeShore Center held a community awareness workshop, focusing on domestic violence and sexual assault. The conference discussed the effects of domestic violence on children and brought together people from across the community to discuss the impact domestic violence has on the Kenai Peninsula and beyond.

“It left everybody with the admonition … to go out into the community and to call out domestic violence when they see it and hopefully that will help,” Waters said.

The Alaska Victimization Survey has shown a decline in the the numbers of women who face intimate partner violence, by 32 percent from 2010 to 2015, but Walker urged in his proclamation that there is more work to be done.

“While we acknowledge the progress being made, domestic violence is still a serious crime that crosses all economic, racial, gender, educational, religious and societal barriers and is sustained by an attitude of indifference,” Walker said. ” … All Alaskans deserve to be safe in their homes and communities.”

Reach Kat Sorensen at kat.sorensen@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Syverine Bentz, coastal training program coordinator for the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, displays a board of ideas during a Local Solutions meeting focused on salmon at the Cook Inletkeeper Community Action Studio in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
In search of salmon solutions

Cook Inletkeeper hosts meeting to develop community project to help salmon.

Lisa Gabriel, left, watches as beach seine nets are pulled from the waters of Cook Inlet at a test site for the gear near Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
CFEC to consider seines for east side setnet fishery

The change is contingent on the State Board of Fisheries approving the gear during their March meeting.

A map of 2025 construction projects scheduled for the Kenai Peninsula. (Provided by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Department of Transportation announces construction plans

Most of the projects include work to various major highways.

Seward City Hall is seen under cloudy skies in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward adds full-time staffer for recently restarted teen rec room

Seward’s Parks and Recreation Department reclaimed responsibility for teen programming at the start of this year.

Gavin Ley stands with the “Go-Shopping Kart” he designed and built in his career and technical education courses at Nikiski Middle/High School in Nikiski, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski students learn professional skills through technical education

Career and technical education gives students opportunity to learn skills, express themselves creatively, work cooperatively and make decisions.

Nikiski teachers, students and parents applaud Nikiski Middle/High Principal Mike Crain as he’s recognized as the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals 2025 Region III Principal of the Year by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education during their meeting in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski principal named Region III principal of the year

Crain has served as Nikiski’s principal for three years.

An 86 pound Kenai River king salmon is measured in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 29, 1995. (M. Scott Moon/Peninsula Clarion File)
Kenai River king salmon fishing closed entirely for 3rd year

Kenai River king salmon were designated a stock of management concern in 2023.

The Kenai Peninsula College Main Entrance on Aug. 18, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
University of Alaska Board of Regents to meet in Soldotna

The last time the board met on the Kenai Peninsula was April 2012.

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education member Penny Vadla and student representative Emerson Kapp speak to the joint Alaska House and Senate education committees in Juneau, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Screenshot courtesy Gavel Alaska/KTOO)
KPBSD among dozens of districts to deliver in-person testimony to Alaska Legislature

Districts spotlighted programs already lost over years of stagnant funding that hasn’t met inflationary pressure.

Most Read