In the second week of April we welcomed a group of women from Morocco that was here to learn about procedures for dealing with violence against women.
The group began their appointments with a site visit to FAVOR House of Northwest Florida. This appointment was informative and useful thanks to Sue Hand, Fred Sulzbach, Marsha Travis, and Valerie Love. The visitors received an overview of the domestic violence issues that are encountered in Escambia County and learned about the programs that FAVOR House implements to combat domestic violence.
The visitors then met with Dr. Kimberly Womack at Baptist Hospital who explained emergency room procedures for rape victims and how she handles the needs of domestic violence victims. This meeting was particularly interesting for the women as the information gleaned from it will be used to help shape procedural guidelines in their own country.
Dr. Kimberly Tatum and Dr. Richard Hough, professors at UWF, had a productive meeting with the delegates discussing fatality review procedures and the work of the Domestic Violence Coalition.
The following day, the women met with Beth Greene of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and her lab team who introduced the women to the guidelines and procedures the FDLE follows when receiving sexual assault cases. The visitors particularly were interested in the lab tests used by the FDLE and appreciated the attention paid to their questions at this appointment.
Next, the group spent some time at the PACE Center for Girls where Lauri Rodgers, Executive Director, explained the program at that special school. The delegates then met with some of the girls to answer their questions about Moroccan culture and were quite impressed with the degree to which the girls had prepared themselves for the meeting.
Their final appointment was at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office where they were able to learn more about what happens on the scene when a police officer is called to deal with domestic violence and where they met some victims’ advocates. Sheriff David Morgan presented the Certificates of Honorary Citizenship with the City of Pensacola which Mayor Mike Wiggins had prepared for the group and answered all of their remaining questions. We would like to give a special thanks to Sena Maddison, Sgt. Carol Turner, Kathleen Augustus, and Robbie Leverett for making this meeting successful.
