ROCK SPRINGS — Safe is a word that some people don’t feel at home. In Rock Springs alone, Rock Springs Police Department took 107 reports of domestic violence. Many more likely went unreported.
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The Reality of Domestic Violence
Domestic violence and sexual assault may seem like clinical terms, but they mean grave actions of violence — being beaten, raped, or strangled to name a few.
Believe it or not, strangulation is common enough in domestic violence that there is an institute that teaches training on its prevention.
“Statistics show that you don’t just get into a relationship and they strangle you,” said YWCA Safe House Director Aimee Gatzke, who works at the Family Justice Center.
“You are 7-8 times more likely to be killed after you’ve been strangled,” said Gatzke. Once someone has strangled you, the danger is high that it will happen again and be lethal the next time.
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The Safe House
That’s why the YWCA Safe House exists in Rock Springs. Safe House is a secret house where someone in an abusive situation can go for respite—so that they can sort out their next steps in peace.
The abuse doesn’t have to be physical either. It can be emotional or verbal.
“We service any woman, child, or family that has any type of family violence. Since opening up the Family Justice Center in 2012, we’ve worked on encompassing all types of family violence,” said Gatzke. “Our goal is to help the women or children coming from an abusive relationship.”
And it’s an important place because it’s almost never empty.
The Safe House helps the individual or family get back on their feet, by helping them find proper housing, resources, classes, and more.
The Safe House has community partners, like Southwest Realty and Rock Butte Apartments, who will work with the women to establish a new, healthy home.
In 2016, they housed 34 adults and 26 children. But Gatzke said the numbers were down that year. Usually, they house closer to 100 people in a given year.
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Breaking the Cycle of Violence
The best thing about helping people in this situation is seeing the lives of the kids improve, said Gatzke. A lot of times there is a cycle of growing up in a violent home and then the children have a violent relationship themselves.
“I really have a soft spot for kids. I think to see that change in the parent and know that those kids are going to have a better environment and a better start. That they will grow up to have it better,” said Gatzke.
Gatzke told the story of one mom who came to the Safe House through sexual assault allegations. She stayed at the Safe House while she was getting her life back together. She even ended up coming back to the Safe House for a time because she was struggling. But things are different now.
“She got a really great job and she’s successful now. We stayed in contact with her for a couple months. She is out of that violent situation. She may not ever contact us again, but that’s good,” said Gatzke.
For another woman, it wasn’t until attending a workshop from the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention that she realized that she was a lot more likely to die from domestic abuse once she’d been strangled by her partner. That was finally what she needed to leave her situation.
“You never know what you say could change someone’s life and how that important that is,” said Gatzke. “She’s alive and doing well.”
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YWCA Support & Safe House Program, Sweetwater County
The most difficult thing for a victim to do is to get help. The Sweetwater County Family Justice Center will treat all meetings confidentially and you can reach someone 24 hours a day via their crisis hotline.
24 Hour Crisis Hotline
Advocacy for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault
1.307.352.1030 (Rock Springs)
1.307.872.3250 (Green River)
