CINCINNATI -- Three people have been killed in 2016 in Hamilton County because of domestic violence, but the Tri-State will remember so many more at a candlelight vigil Tuesday night.
The "She Screams Without Sound" event starts at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday on the steps of the Hamilton County Courthouse. In years past, supporters have gathered inside the courthouse, with many clinging to photographs of their loved ones.
Erika Yingling, YWCA director of family and community intervention, says 111 Ohioans were killed by domestic violence in 2015 -- that includes 11 children.
"I think often in our communities we don’t ever believe it will come that far, but the reality is that it does," Yingling said. "This is a time for families, other survivors, community activists, advocacy centers, community members to memoralize and look at the lives lost due to domestic violence.”
Nationally, 1,400 victims of intimate partner violence died in 2015, Yingling said. She added that one in four women will experience domestic violence and one in seven men will fall victim as well.
“The vigil ... reminds us that domestic violence can lead to homicide for survivors," Yingling said. "Some of the three top indicators for lethality are somebody who has access to a weapon and has used it in the past to threaten or intimidate, the point of separation between the abuser and the survivor and past threats of suicide or attempts to kill. If these three things are happening, there is a very high chance that (it) could lead to a homicide.”
