Our approach to reducing and eliminating domestic violence is a micro approach; that is to target specific areas in which we can show results in behavior changes, court changes, reduced murder rates or reduced violence. To accomplish this we have looked nationwide for projects that have been successful in specific arenas (courts, churches, treatment groups, corporations) and can move us toward the goal of 0 domestic murders by 2010.

We are excited to report that we have found several projects from all parts of this country which are successful in reducing or eliminating domestic violence. We are now busy replicating these successful projects nationwide. In one year, there are 100 projects already started in 35 states.

Latest Research

Nationwide Success
Maps of States

The homicide rates are falling in several cities and states; for example, in Minnesota the domestic violence homicide rate has gone from 27 in 1990 to 6 in 1996. Quincy, MA, has had one domestic violence homicide in 12 years and Seattle and San Diego are both down from more than 30 to 4 or fewer. Several other cities are also experiencing similar trends.

The courts are responding well to the court watch programs around the country. We are becoming colleagues with judges who are as interested as we are in helping the system work better for survivors and in finding effective ways to work with perpetrators.

Independent research on the Stosny Treatment program for perpetrators shows that it is working even more successfully than Dr. Stosny's original research. It has an 87% success rate in eliminating battering behavior in court ordered males with a 78% reduction in verbal violence. All of this with only a 15% drop out rate (average drop rates are 50%).

The DART abuse prevention model used in churches and synagogues is showing encouraging research results in the healing of anger and intimidating behavior before it reaches the battering stage.

The Big Picture

In the ten years that the national organization has been in existence we have seen the following results: recruited 50 other states to join our initiative by making identical exhibits, initiated a program that has a proven record of eliminating domestic murders, researched several other violence reduction programs, developed and produced ten products, received two local and two national awards, completed a strategic plan and completed plans for a national march/conference in Washington, D.C. in 1997. Senator Paul and Sheila Wellstone brought the Witnesses to Washington to stand in the Russell Senate Office building during legislative hearings on the Crime Bill. Many Senators viewed the Witnesses and talked about how deeply touched they were by the exhibit.

Who's Involved

Thousands of citizens from 30 different organizations are now involved with the Silent Witness National Initiative. This includes 20 Attorneys general, six governors and many legislators. The organizations range from two individual homemakers in New Hampshire and Maine to The Junior League, The National Council of Jewish Women, business & professional women, NOW, AAGW, Anti-Violence Coalitions, battered women's shelters, artists, nurses, police departments, The YWCA, Men Against Violence Against Women, family members, churches, corporations and more. At our first steering committee meeting in 1996, nineteen people from twelve states paid their own way to Chicago to join us in planning this national effort.

The State's Efforts

Each state introduced their Exhibit to the public through an event that effects thousands of people through broad print and television coverage. In North Carolina the Governor hosted a dinner for the debut. In Michigan family members escorted the figures to the state capitol. In New York, the Mayor and both Senators attended the opening at Grand Central Station. The Navajo Nation opened their exhibit at a Tribal Memorial Ceremony. Several states have gone further than their debuts. They have worked on legislation that affects domestic violence, or have piloted successful programs that reduce violence.

The March in Washington

All 50 states met in Washington, D.C. in October of 1997 for a March to End the Silence, in order to honor the murdered women and to protest domestic violence in America. At that time we  showcased successful programs at a Take Peace Home Conference and sponsored a healing vigil at the Capital Reflecting Pool. We expect all 50 states to work on successful prevent domestic violence reduction projects now that they have returned from the conference.  The momentum is building. We are determined to heal this nation.

As a direct result of our involvement nationally, Minneapolis has become the first large city to replicate all 5 of the major results projects; Quincy, Stosny Treatment, DART, data collection and Court Watch.  The new Stosny treatment model is moving forward rapidly in several organizations in the Twin Cities and could, along with a successful Court Watch drastically reduce domestic violence in Minnesota.

Two Fortune 100 Corporations have agreed not only to be a corporate partner in this initiative, both to help Silent Witness as well as influence the larger community through policy and education. The Junior League of St. Paul has become a major force in the National Initiative and the Washington events.

Perhaps the most important result of the Silent Witness Exhibit is the extent to which it has touched and often changed the lives of individuals in our country. Comments and several poignant letters were received from people who have been deeply affected by the project. A furnace cleaner at the home of one of the organizers noticed the information on the exhibit in her basement. He said he had seen the exhibit on television, that it had touched him, and encouraged him to say things to other men about caring for women. A woman wrote a ten page letter telling how deeply moved she was by the exhibit. "Your Silent Witness creation has had a great affect on opening me to surrendering my anonymity as a formerly battered woman...it was the springboard, the catalyst for my going public with my own truth."

 top