CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Purple pinwheels are lined outside the Kanawha County public safety building to bring awareness and hopefully prevent domestic abuse in the county.
Debra Rusnak
“Domestic violence affects every community. It doesn’t just affect the communities who are in poverty. It affects all communities regardless of age, income, or background,” said Kanawha County prosecutor Debra Rusnak.
Tamika Wilborne with the YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program was one of the couple dozen who came to the public safety building dressed in purple ready to help. She says domestic violence is something that goes largely unreported.
“There’s a lot of hidden signs and sometimes people are too afraid to come forward, or people miss the signs,” Wilborne said.
While the county has honored Domestic Violence Awareness Month in other years, this is just year two of the pinwheels making their way to the outside of the property.
Wilborne says the purple pinwheels are more than just a display.
“When they see it, we hope that they know that they can heal and just them being a survivor and coming forward and telling their story is going to help someone else. If one person stays quiet and doesn’t get help, that’s one too many,” Wilborne said.
Rusnak says she wants victims to know that her office is determined to make a change.
“We want them to know that we support them, that we’re here, that we want to help and we want to keep them safe and ultimately that we’re doing the right thing every day to try to ensure that we’re putting as much of a stop to domestic violence as possible,” she said.