Domestic violence doesn’t affect just victims, said Kathy Wells, a former executive director of Crisis Services of North Alabama and a longtime domestic violence victims advocate.

It affects the workplace when aggressors try to get to their victims. It costs companies due to absenteeism. It causes health care costs to skyrocket. And, it affects the families of victims and their friends.

“It affects all of us, and the solution has to come from the community,” Wells said.

With that in mind, a group called the Limestone County Coordinated Community Response Against Domestic and Sexual Violence will meet from 11-noon Friday, March 17, at the Family Resource Center at 406 S. Jefferson St. in Athens.

The group’s mission is to educate and raise awareness to help prevent domestic and sexual violence in our community.

With this meeting, they are hoping to identify partners, identify gaps in services and organize campaigns and outreach activities.

Domestic violence happens to between 1 and 3 or 1 and 4 people in their lifetimes, Wells said.

“What we are trying to do is pull together anyone in the community who touches the lives of domestic and sexual abuse victims and their families,” she said. “We’re talking about law enforcement, mental health, Department of Human Resources and any organization that touches the lives of victims and their family members. If the families who have lost loved ones to domestic violence want to help educate other families, they are welcome, too. Anyone in the community who is interested in finding solutions to the problem and fill gaps in services.”

Wells said the group wants to work with district attorneys offices and law enforcement to develop a death-review team to look at domestic violence-related deaths to see if there are things that could have been done to prevent them.

“Did the victim contact domestic violence services and did they even know about domestic violence services?” are questions the team will consider, she said. “We want to see what we could do better.”

She emphasized that the intent of the review team is to look forward.

“The purpose of this is not to point fingers,” Wells said. “It is to work together as a team, as a community, so we can make Athens and Limestone County the best community to live in Alabama and this country. To make it the safest we can make it.”

She said that where such programs are implemented, they are able to educate youths and seniors and the community in general about how to identify whether someone they know is a victim and who to contact or how to provide support for a loved one who is effected.

Although it is often clear the victim should simply leave, she said victims of domestic violence typically leave five to seven times before they leave for good.

Leaving for good is not safe, either.

“The most dangerous time for victims of domestic violence to leave is when they are leaving for good because domestic violence is about power and control,” Wells said. “When they (abusers) see they are losing that power they will go further and further to get it back.”

Wells said Alabama is generally among the top 10 states with deaths due to domestic violence.

“Historically, we have not done well in that area,” she said. “Nationwide, we’ve been able to reduce deaths by domestic violence by 64 percent in the last 15 to 20 years. But, the thing that very much concerns me and other advocates is we are looking at a climate where Congress and the Legislature is making changes to the law and funding that will significantly place victims at great risk. If that happens, we are going to see deaths skyrocket and the number of assaults skyrocket.”

She fears the Trump team plans to do away with the Violence Against Women Act programs and cut all funding.

“We are not just providing someone to go to court with victims,” Wells said. “We are providing life-changing and life-saving services to them.”

She said proposed cuts would affect all states.

“It is important to let your legislator know this is important to you and to our community.”