Lehigh Valley Voice - September 01, 2022
Everyone deserves a chance to be loved and respected
By Deb Lehman
Turning Point of Lehigh Valley provides confidential support and information to help victims of all types of domestic and intimate partner abuse turn their lives around.
In 1976, a small group known as “May Day Anonymous” came together to answer hotline calls from women who were victims of domestic violence. Two years later, the group became known as Turning Point of Lehigh Valley, Inc.
“In the early days of our work, we were part of what was most-often referred to as the, “battered women’s movement,” said Andrea Search, Director of Advancement. “The success of those early efforts led to a national awakening of just how broad the problem was, and the term ‘domestic violence’ soon took its place.”
“Words matter,” Search continued. “While physical violence can leave visible wounds, emotional, verbal and psychological aggression can be just as harmful. In 2019, our Board of Directors changed the wording from ‘domestic violence’ to ‘domestic and intimate partner abuse,’ so that all survivors could see themselves in our mission regardless of the type of abuse inflicted, or the living arrangement of the persons involved.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), data indicates that about 1 in 4 women and nearly 1 in 10 men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime and reported some form of intimate partner violence-related impact. Over 43 million women and 38 million men have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner.
