By Alex Davidson
More than 300 people attended an annual conference on domestic violence sponsored by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall’s office and her Task Force Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.
Marshall said the conference, which was held at York College, helps to show people that domestic violence is an intolerable offense. She said she plans to strengthen and expand the task force to show her support for preventing domestic violence.
“Domestic violence requires the strong arm of the law,” she said at last Thursday’s conference. “You cannot abuse people.”
The daylong conference, entitled “Domestic Violence: A Fresh Look at an Old Problem,” offered workshops and video presentations, including a workshop on male victims of domestic violence called Breaking the Barriers to several hundred people.
Other workshops included lectures on using meditation to heal emotional trauma, how spirituality can assist in the recovery from domestic violence, an instructional class on proper emergency room responses to victims of domestic violence, and an informational session on alternative sentencing to discuss punishments for perpetrators of domestic violence.
Queens is the only borough to have a permanent task force dedicated solely to domestic violence, said Marshall, who noted that former Borough President Claire Shulman was an active supporter of the task force and its programming.
Marshall said her office will merge the Task Force Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence with the task force on the Maltreatment of Children. She said she also will reorganize the leadership of the combined task force to include Deputy Borough President Karen Koslowitz, who will take over as chairwoman.
Marshall said she wants to include members of her staff on the task force to strengthen it and make it a permanent fixture in the office of the borough president.
“This is now one of the most major task forces in Borough Hall,” she said.
The task force plans the annual conference, which began in 1997, as the culmination of its programming schedule for October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness month. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence initiated the monthlong observance in 1981.
Task force co-chair Fern Zagor, chief administrator of community and mental health services at the Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center in Rockaway, said the conference is just one of many examples of the task force’s taking an active role in addressing domestic violence.
She said the task force also informs the borough president on legislation concerning domestic violence and brings in speakers to address task force members.
“We’ve become advocates for victims (of domestic violence),” she said. “Many of the members on the task force are survivors of sexual assault or domestic violence.”
Zagor, who has been on the task force since 1988 and co-chairwoman since 1991, said members of the task force also include police officers, lawyers, corrections officers, and others involved in the criminal justice system. She said the task force began in 1987 with five members and now has more than 40 members.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 156.
