Mayor Sylvester Turner, local community leaders join advocates to shed light during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

HOUSTON – October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and local law enforcements and community leaders teamed up with advocates to shed light on the growing issues in the Houston area.

Mayor Sylvester Turner joined Houston Area Women’s Center, the Houston Police Department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Crime Stoppers of Houston and other organization leaders during Thursday’s press conference.

The Houston Police Department said domestic violence is the most unreported crime and in the last two years, the number of reported incidents have increased exponentially.

HPD reports from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, there were more than 25,000 domestic violence cases, which are up by 74%. According to its data, domestic violence murders account for 17% of the city’s homicides and domestic sexual assaults account for 15% of all reported sexual assaults.

“Domestic violence can be physical, emotional, psychological, or social economic including actions and threats of actions,” said Commander J. A. Halliday, with HPD Major Assaults & Family Violence Division. “It can affect people from all ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.”

During the press conference, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said they must continue to shine light and awareness on domestic violence abuse and support survivors. He said the city, in collaboration with NO MORE, a global public awareness and engagement organization, launched the Join the Chorus awareness campaign in October.

If you are suffering from abuse, please know you’re not alone.

For emergencies, call or text 911 or call the Crime Victims Unit at 713-274-9369. The Houston area women’s council also has services available to help, they can be reached at 713-528-2121.

Watch the full press conference below: