YWCA Provides Help To Women In Domestic Violence Situations

It has been two years since one woman ran away from her abuser.

She was one of the lucky ones. Oklahoma is now ranked fourth in the nation for women killed by men in single victim, single offender homicides, YWCA Senior Director of Specialized Training Brandon Pasley said.

She shared her story with News 9 Monday afternoon, in the hopes of helping others.  

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 

“A lot of people aren’t willing to leave, because it’s hard. It’s hard,” she said. 

Pasley said the YWCA relies on several community partners to fill the need.

“We think of our programs as homicide prevention centers. The data from the Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board shows that in a 10-year time span, only 2 percent of the victims murdered by their partners had sought services like ours,” he said. 

A year ago, the YWCA opened a new facility. Pasley said that it can house as many 120 domestic violence victims a day.