With a cutout representing a victim of dating violence over her shoulder, Catherine Shellman speaks about her daughter Tiffanie Perry, who was murdered by her boyfriend in 2010, during the annual kickoff to Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Daily Record photos by Denise Cathey
Month of awareness kicks off
Domestic and dating violence cuts across all economic, racial, gender and societal barriers, in Hays County as elsewhere. Last year alone, the Hays Caldwell Women’s Center served 1,024 victims of domestic violence and 158 women in Texas lost their lives at the hands of intimate partners.
Monday’s kickoff, at the Hays County Government Center, is an annual event that involves the HCWC, the offices of the sheriff and district attorney, and the county’s high schools.
Law enforcement, high school students, public officials and county employees gathered for a group shot outside the Hays County Government Center Monday following the kickoff.
Speakers included Hays County Lt. Todd Riffe, san Marcos Police Chief Chase Stapp, HCWC Executive Director Marla Johnson and Catherine Shellman, whose daughter was a victim of domestic violence while a student at Texas State University in 2010.
Cardboard cutouts represented local victims of domestic violence including Shellman’s daughter.'
Football teams from Hays County schools will spread the word through ribbons on their helmets.
