Regardless of age, race, sex, or class, anyone can experience domestic violence, and many in the Wichita area do. In Wichita alone, there were 22,593 domestic violence incidents, with only 11,097 arrests made in 2021. In the United States, one in four women and one in nine men experience intimate partner domestic violence, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Purple Mile is an event held by the Wichita/Sedgwick County Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Coalition at Wichita State to recognize and honor those who have survived or lost their lives to domestic violence in the Wichita area and beyond.
Local companies dedicated to helping domestic violence survivors and their families, like Stepstone and Hope Medical Forensic Services, showed their support at the Purple Mile event, held on Oct. 7.
“I provide medical care to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence … working with advocates, prosecutors and therapists,” Tina Peck, a nurse practitioner with Hope Medical, said. “I also make and sell shirts (and the) proceeds help pay for medical care for survivors. I have not sent a bill to a survivor for two and a half years.”
Sergeant Brad Elmore with the Domestic Intervention of Violence Reduction Team department at the Wichita Police Department discussed what his team does for domestic violence perpetrators and survivors.
“Our mission is to identify and arrest domestic violence offenders and place them in the Sedgwick County Jail to hold them accountable for their actions and give survivors space to develop a plan,” Elmore said. “When we first started, there were over 200 offenders with warrants in our community for domestic violence that had not yet been arrested … now there’s about 20, and that’s 20 too many.”
Mary Stoles with the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center shared her unfortunate experience with domestic violence. Her close co-worker and friend, Perla Rodriguez, was killed by her boyfriend Travis Becker.
“I learned that domestic violence doesn’t discriminate … survivors in our lives and community deserve spaces where they won’t be judged,” Stoles said. “To everyone here who has survived domestic violence, keep shining. To everyone here who’s working to bring accountability to people who perpetrated these crimes, keep shining. To everyone here who is creating safe spaces for victim-survivors and their facility, keep shining. And to the families here today because you lost someone recently, keep shining.”
The walk itself was led by the World Changers Club from Coleman Middle School, chaperoned by Laura Parks.
“They want to help others and make a positive change in the world,” Parks said. “The important part (of being here) is for my students to learn about domestic and dating violence and red flags … so that they hopefully don’t find themselves in a situation where there’s violence in a relationship.”
During the walk, there were some community members who had experienced domestic violence themselves or knew someone who had experienced it and lost their life.
Leslie Powell lost her daughter Haley in 2022 to a murder-suicide by her boyfriend at the time. In her unfortunate death, Haley left behind a 15-month-old baby boy that Leslie adopted and is raising herself.
“I’m just trying to keep her memory alive,” Powell said. “If this cause can save one person, then her death wasn’t in vain.”
If help is needed for a domestic violence incident, the national hotline is (800)-799-7233. For emergencies, dial 911.
