Lake County leaders to spend their Valentine's evening at rally to fight violence against women
Some of the people who spend their days providing help, support and justice for women who suffer domestic violence will come together in Round Lake Beach Tuesday for the 10th annual Lake County Rising.
“It is so common to feel hopelessness and that no one will care,” Lake County Rising chair Sandra Bankston said of people experiencing sexual domestic violence. “Public events like this show people there are those who care and that can give people the strength to disclose what is actually happening.”
After gathering on Zoom the last two years, Bankston said the free event once again will be held at the Round Lake Beach Civic Center at 2007 N. Civic Center Way. It is open to the public.
It is a local version of One Billion Rising, founded on Valentine's Day 2012 by Eve Ensler, the playwright best known for “The Vagina Monologues.” The global protest to end violence and promote justice and gender equality is named after the U.N. statistic that one in three women will be raped or beaten in their lifetime.
Former Round Lake Beach Trustee Judy Armstrong started Lake County Rising after seeing on the international movement's website that there had been no version of these events in America outside of the coasts.
Bankston, lead therapist for New Horizons, the Lake County State's Attorney's Office's free counseling program, said Lake County Rising attendees in years past have sought help from participating organizations as soon as the next day.
In addition to directly inspiring some women to change their lives, Bankston said the program provides an opportunity for helpers from different groups to check in with each other.
“We all can get caught up in our particular mission and be so busy we operate as silos,” Bankston said. “It is so nice to have something to come together and work on collaboratively.”
Armstrong said one of the biggest changes she has seen in the county over the last 10 years is the data dashboard launched by the state's attorney's office in fall 2021 that shows crime and arrest data in an easy-to-access way. She added, it provides facts about domestic violence to educate residents who don't believe it happens where they live.
More people were admitted to Lake County jail on charges of domestic violence than any other crime from 2013 to 2020, each year for which data is available.
Tuesday's event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a resource fair to provide information on help available to victims of violence. Then at 7 p.m., the hourlong program will begin and feature speakers from area organizations, as well as talented young people.
Armstrong said one of her favorite parts each year is hearing the winners of the annual youth poetry and essay writing competitions read their work.
“As scripture says, 'a child shall lead them,' and so often our youth write very powerful messages,” Armstrong said.
Another annual tradition is having attendees write on Post-it notes why they choose to rise up to demand an end to violence against women. Armstrong said the message that stuck out most in her memory was from a child who wrote, “I rise so my mom will never be a victim again.”
“It just touches your heart,” Armstrong said. “We always give people the opportunity to do that because you don't know who will write what will touch the hearts of many in the future.”
The event is sponsored by community groups including Nicasa Behavioral Health Services, Mano a Mano Family Resource Center, A Safe Place, the Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center, YWCA Lake County along with National Louis University and the Lake County State's Attorney's Office.
“Everyone can do their part to dismantle violence against women,” Bankston said.