As part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a Connecticut group wants to better educate people about the problem. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence finds, in Connecticut, close to 38% of women and about 34% of men experience violent abuse.

Megan Scanlon, CEO of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence said her groups works with victims to create safety plans for leaving their abuser.

"Sometimes that does mean that you might be applying for a restraining order or a protective order, but sometimes it may mean you might not be," she said. "And then there's other factors to keep in mind. Sometimes it requires changing the locks, adding cameras. There's just a lot of nuance depending on the situation."

She noted developing these plans can help kids in abusive homes, adding this trend increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Studies show the isolation of quarantine made it harder for people to report signs of abuse, and help them escape a dangerous environment.

Another part of this education effort is breaking misconceptions, like the notion it is simple for domestic violence victims to just leave their abuser. There are other misunderstandings,too, Scanlon added.

"I think they think, 'Okay, like this isn't something I should get involved in or it's not my problem because it's between two people or a family member.' And, I think that's absolutely not the case. I think until the community response is similar to other levels of crime, then I think we're going to continue to perpetuate this issue," she continued.

Scanlon added given that abuse can occur over a period of time, it can take quite some time for a person to fully understand something is wrong.

In the last three years, the state's General Assembly made legislative efforts to reduce domestic violence. One law prohibits courts from ordering injured spouses to make alimony payments to convicted spouses. Despite this progress, Scanlon said there's still more work to do.

"So, there are a couple things in the criminal justice response system that I think we want to look at in terms of what is the process for protective orders when there's firearms involved," she explained. "Is that going as smoothly, or as well as it should be so we want to look at that."

She also wants to see the development of a domestic violence docket for the state's courts. In March, the Department of Justice awarded the state's court system more than $3 million which could up the number of protective orders, and misdemeanor convictions for domestic violence.

The giving season offers Ohioans an opportunity to reflect on the importance of supporting community services.

For survivors of sexual violence in rural Ohio, donations are critical in maintaining vital resources. In 2023, donations made up about 1% of incoming funds to the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

Taylr Ucker-Lauderman, chief engagement officer of the alliance, explained rural areas face unique challenges.

"We've known for a while that there are service gaps there," Ucker-Lauderman pointed out. "We still need to provide crisis services like legal aid, like housing, medical services, and we don't want to lose any momentum. We want to keep our work going."

Rural areas often lack the resources available in urban centers, creating barriers to critical services such as transportation and crisis support. The coalition emphasized the importance of believing survivors and supporting them on their journey toward healing. Ucker-Lauderman acknowledged while grants and foundation resources fund most of the coalition's efforts, there are still remaining areas requiring additional support.

The organization has also prioritized empowering survivors through storytelling workshops, offering tools to help them reclaim their narratives.

Shelby Lieber, survivor coordinator for the alliance, emphasized the importance of such efforts, especially in rural communities, where stigma often silences survivors with notions like, "It doesn't happen here" or "If it does, it stays behind closed doors."

"We want to make sure that you're hearing survivor voices," Lieber stressed. "That way, other survivors can come forward and say, 'This happened to me and I'm ready to start healing.'"

The Alliance recently concluded a three-year project focusing on rural Ohio, addressing service barriers and increasing local capacity. These efforts underscore the resilience of Ohio's rural communities and the ongoing need for resources to foster healing and change.

More than 60% of sexual assaults are never reported to police, due to concerns like fear of retaliation or negative social interactions. But Nebraska advocates say there are resources to help with confidentiality issues.

These reminders come amid heightened concerns about threating behavior women experience online.

Katie Welsh is the vice president of programs for Omaha's Women's Center for Advancement - which works with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and stalking.

She said advocacy groups and law enforcement are learning more about the overlap between online harassment and physical abuse.

"It's kind of a new frontier in many ways," said Welsh. "While it may start where the victim and abuser are geographically separated and are communicating online, that it often leads to them meeting up so that the abuser can assert power and control."

Welsh said in its worst form, this can include sexual violence.

No matter the situation, she said anyone targeted can call the Women's Center's 24/7 crisis hotline (402-345-7273) where a confidential advocate works with the survivor ready to report what happened.

The Women's Fund of Omaha also stresses that reporting can happen anonymously, and the website sexualassaulthelp.org is another resource.

The website notes the survivor isn't required to provide any identifying information to law enforcement.

In other situations, Welsh acknowledged the challenges that sometimes come up when a survivor reports an assault or harassing behavior, and is bombarded with threatening online messages afterwards.

"Those online interactions are hard to shut off, you know," said Welsh. "They can from a lot of different sources - email, social media."

She said taking down social media profiles and changing email addresses might help ward off online harassment.

Welsh added that taking screenshots of online threats and daily notes about interactions can help when reporting them to authorities.

Sexual violence remains a significant concern in Ohio, and specialized teams, such as Sexual Assault Response Teams and Coordinated Community Response Teams, are designed to provide critical support to survivors. Now, a new study aims to assess the effectiveness of these teams and identify gaps in service.

Nicole Kass Colvin, director of coordinated community responses with the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence said this research is essential.

"We are really hoping to get some information on what teams exist and what we can do to make our teams really effective across the state of Ohio. It takes all of us to end sexual violence," she explained.

While the teams aim to provide holistic support, there is limited Ohio-specific data on their effectiveness. The survey tied to this research seeks to gather information about how these teams are structured and where they could improve. Some question whether this approach alone can address all the challenges faced by survivors without more resources.

Anna Ressler, assistant professor at Miami University is leading the research, and explained that while the teams are known to be valuable, the details of how they operate effectively are still unclear.

"There's a lot of research that shows that these teams are necessary. But we don't know what constitutes an effective team," she said.

The study's results are expected to inform improvements in services for survivors across Ohio. Those involved in these response teams, or those interested in starting one, are encouraged to participate in the survey, contributing to this important research and Ohio's ongoing efforts to address sexual violence.