Iowans urged to shine light on domestic violence

Iowans are urged to turn their porch lights on tonight as a visible signal against domestic violence.Linda Watson of the “Helping Services of Northeast Iowa” in Decorah says turning on the porch light shows you support safety, respect for other people, and you do not condone violence. October has been designated as “domestic violence awareness” month. Watson says domestic violence is all about “power and control.” Preliminary statistics for 1999 show a more than eight-percent increase in domestic violence incidents reported to Iowa police. Nearly seven thousand Iowans reported being harmed in a domestic situation — 83 percent of those victims were women. Just over five thousand people were arrested after a domestic abuse complaint. Nearly three-quarters of reported incidents in Iowa yielded an arrest.