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PRESS RELEASE - Request for Coverage
Contact: Laurie Harrison
(785) 232-9784
(785) 633-9703 (cell)
September 29, 2006

PRESS RELEASE - Request for Coverage

http://www.kcsdv.org/prlethal.html

"Beyond Statistics:

Lethal Domestic and Sexual Violence Against Women in Kansas"

Statewide advocacy organization to release new report that details the stories of women killed during the previous two years

Unprecedented report to be released during press conference next week

"Beyond Statistics" Backgrounder

"Beyond Statistics" Recommendations

"Beyond Statistics" Press Conference Comments by Sandy Barnett, 10.4.06

TOPEKA, Kan. - The first-ever report featuring the stories of women murdered across Kansas will be released this Wednesday in Topeka.

"This report is an opportunity for us to recognize victims as more than just statistics," said Sandy Barnett, executive director at the Kansas Coalition against Sexual and Domestic Violence. "It also shows that the murders are happening everywhere in Kansas, from Goodland and Garden City, to Topeka and Kansas City."

KCSDV will release its four-page report, "Beyond Statistics: Lethal Domestic and Sexual Violence Against Women in Kansas," as part of a press conference to kick off October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The press conference starts at approximately 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 4, 2006, at the KCSDV office, located at the corner of 7th and Harrison, just one block south of the Kansas Statehouse.

"Beyond Statistics" also includes stories on attempted murders and data on missing women and women held hostage in domestic violence-related standoffs in Kansas for the past two years.

"We should know the names of these women just as we know the names of high profile victims like Laci Peterson and Nicole Brown Simpson," Barnett said.

Press conference speakers are Sandy Barnett; Deborah Tucker, executive director of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence located in Austin, Texas; Bob Stephan, chair of the Governor's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board and former Kansas Attorney General; and long-time advocate Juliene Maska, administrator in the Office of the Governor who is representing Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

Photo opportunities include a large laminated map of Kansas showing the number of shelters and rape crisis centers, and domestic violence displays, including the "Silent Witness" exhibit (life-size silhouettes of victims).

KCSDV is a network of 30 sexual and domestic violence advocacy programs in Kansas. These programs provide direct services to victims of sexual and domestic violence. KCSDV's purpose is to prevent and eliminate sexual and domestic violence by providing technical assistance, training, legislative advocacy, and policy analysis on a variety of topics for member programs, professionals and ally organizations across Kansas.

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