By Melissa Kaye and Bianca Barr, Penn State
In the fall of 2001, Uniontown, Pa., police were called to the local hospital when Amy Homan McGee turned up there with a broken nose. McGee had told hospital staff that her husband punched her in the face. Her husband, Vince, grew up in the area, a small town. The police gave McGee a pamphlet with information on restraining orders and sent her on her way.
Later, during a follow-up appointment, McGee changed her story, telling doctors that she had been hit in the face with a softball.
“Once you find the courage to disclose to someone and nothing happens, why would you put yourself out there again?” said out State College Detective Deirdri Fishel, the narrator of a documentary about the murder of McGee, who was shot and killed by her husband.
The documentary is part of a Penn State Public Broadcasting public media and outreach initiative, “Telling Amy’s Story — Raising Awareness of Domestic Violence.” The project, funded by the Verizon Foundation, combines the documentary, produced, written and directed by PSPB’s Joe Myers, with a public engagement effort that focuses on the issue of domestic violence both on an individual level and at the community level.
The initiative grew out of a training program on domestic violence for the workplace, to help people identify signs of abuse in their co-workers. “If a stranger came into the office and began pounding on a colleague’s door, you’d call the police,” said Melanie Doebler, project director of the initiative. “But what if the person pounding on the door is your colleague’s husband? Would you behave differently? We have to talk about that.”
Individual impact
The training program includes the documentary and a curriculum developed by the Centre County Woman’s Resource Center. Since 2007 it has been implemented at nearly 90 locations around the state, mostly at Penn State campuses and units, reaching more than 2,000 individuals.
At the individual level, the training program has had an impact. For example, one participant approached the facilitator of a workshop and asked how to talk to his daughter, whom he suspected to be in an abusive relationship. Using the facilitator’s suggestions, he went to his daughter and found that his intuition was correct. He helped his daughter to get out of her abusive marriage.
Now, as part of the Public Service Media initiative, Amy’s story has gone national. About 200 public broadcasting stations across the country have aired the documentary since June. October, Domestic Violence Month, marked an additional push to air the film.
Accompanying the documentary is a website that incorporates tools and resources in English and Spanish that allow the public to share the film, discuss it with others, and refer those in need to domestic violence resources.
“We want communities to use the film beyond the broadcast,” said Doebler. “We want them to use it to initiate discussions in their communities, with their friends and family, with their co-workers, and with their churches and temples.
The documentary also includes an introduction by actress Mariska Hargitay from “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” and president and founder of Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization that works with survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse.
“The act of reaching out for help and breaking the silence is an act of utmost courage,” said Hargitay at a premiere of the documentary last spring held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. “The film brings together the power of media with public broadcasting. For so many survivors, the path to safety is sustained by the community.”
Power of community
Fishel, who is a member of a State College police department unit that focuses on a coordinated response to reports of domestic violence, is a strong believer in the potential power of community. “Communities need to band together to say violence in any relationship is not okay and we will not tolerate it,” she said. “A community needs to recognize that domestic violence is not a family problem to be addressed behind closed doors.”
As such, people are using it in a way that makes sense for their communities, said Doebler.
For example, in New Orleans, the public broadcasting station WYES, the New Orleans Family Justice Center, and the Catholic Church Archdiocese of New Orleans teamed up to hold a screening and a moderated panel discussion in City Hall. In San Francisco, Verizon and the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence held a screening, discussion and a drive to collect cell phones at the Fort Mason Conference Center. Organizers worked with local PBS stations KQED and KTEH to air the documentary around the same time as the event.
While there is a survey on the Web site asking participants how they are using the film, Doebler also learns of events through e-mails and the project’s Facebook page.
A woman in Washington, D.C., shared the film and held a discussion with her book club. Several high school teachers are planning to use it in their classes focusing on social responsibility and social problems. Neighborhood councils across the country are having screening get-togethers.
Reaching those who need help
“It’s about bringing this issue into the open and talking about it,” Doebler said. She added that she has had women approach her and disclose past abusive relationships after watching the film, which includes information about how to get help.
The fact that such women can now come forward and help others means that Amy McGee’s death won’t be in vain. Amy’s mother, Diana Homan, attended the film’s premiere in State College. She said: “I wanted to tell Amy’s story to other women who might be in a similar situation, so they know help is available. The documentary is not going to help Amy, but it may help someone else. If you watch the program, you can go home or back to work and talk to family or co-workers and get help to those who need it.”
This story is from the fall issue of Penn State Outreach magazine.