The Hall County Domestic Violence Task Force hosted its annual breakfast Wednesday morning where they presented the Officer of the Year award and spoke on how domestic violence can impact the workplace.
Students, businesses and local officials heard from guest speaker Lynne Cox, who works as an Employee Assistance Counselor with the Northeast Georgia Health System. Cox provided numerous resources and strategies in seeking to remedy the domestic violence threats facing our communities.
“[Domestic violence] is such a concern in most workplaces,” Cox said. “And it's been one that traditionally has not been directly addressed. So much has been, ‘Well, this is a private matter, we need to leave it up to law enforcement and the court system.’”
Cox detailed different ways employers and coworkers can navigate the difficult conversations surrounding domestic violence concerns. Seeking counsel with your human resource departments was a first step, along with being unafraid of expressing care toward coworkers and employees. In some situations, being flexible and allowing employees time off to handle protective order requests and other similar matters is encouraged. Cox said workplace domestic violence is not uncommon.
“I took two calls yesterday from people who were looking for resources,” Cox said. “We’re not dealing with it on a daily basis, but we are seeing situations that involve some form of domestic violence at least monthly and sometimes weekly.”
Assistant Solicitor General Eric Azcoitia and Victim Advocate Maria Ibarra presented Captain Matthew Mahathey with the Officer of the Year award. Mahathey was recognized for his efforts in going above and beyond to assist a local woman in a challenging domestic violence situation.
“It's very humbling. I never would have imagined actually being given or receiving an award like this,” Mahathey said. “Anything that I could ever do to assist a victim in a situation like that to try to help build their confidence, to make the changes to make themselves better protected—I obviously want to try to help do that.”
Mahathey explained how important it is to be aware of domestic violence. His department responds to domestic violence calls on a daily basis, and in some cases, multiple times a day.
The Hall County Domestic Violence Task Force has been hosting their annual breakfast and briefing for 18 years. Executive Director Jessica Butler with the Gateway Domestic Violence Center stated that the event is a way of coming together as a community to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month
