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Montana exhibit highlights horrors of domestic violence

Posted at 7:41 PM, Oct 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-02 21:41:49-04

HELENA – One hundred red silhouettes line the walkway at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy in Helena this week.

The Silent Witness Exhibit is drawing attention to those who are killed every year as a result of domestic violence.

The exhibit coincides with the observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The female silhouettes bear the names of those killed, while one stands as the silent witness to represent murders unsolved.

Some tell the specifics of the women’s stories, while others include the names of their children, who were also killed.

While the Silent Witness Exhibit includes the names of 100 women, 169 Montana women were killed over the course of 16 years, starting in 2000.

In 2016 alone, 21 women were murdered as a result of intimate partner violence, according to the Montana Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission.

Click here to see their full report from August 2017 (PDF).

The Silent Witness Exhibit will be at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy through Friday, October 5 and the public is invited to visit.

Contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or click here, if you or someone you care about needs help.


National Dating Abuse Helpline
1-866-331-9474
www.loveisrespect.org

National Child Abuse Hotline/Childhelp
1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)
www.childhelp.org

National Sexual Assault Hotline
1-800-656-4673 (HOPE)
www.rainn.org

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255 (TALK)
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

-Melissa Jensen reporting for MTN News