Honoring victims of domestic abuse

Imposing gray skies muted the fall colors outside Spokane’s YWCA on Tuesday as the speaker read off 46 names of Washington residents killed in domestic violence between January 2003 and June 2004.

On the table, the late Andrea Atkinson had her own candle of honor.

The Spokane mother’s final act April 12 was to push her children out of the way as she was repeatedly crushed under a van. Her estranged husband, Richard Atkinson, 32, remains in jail on first-degree murder charges in connection with her death.

“I think it’s important for us to take this week to honor the survivors of domestic violence and those who have fallen,” said Monica Walters, the executive director of the YWCA. “Each year we pause and reflect … on the impact violence has on the very fabric of our lives.”

On the wall, children’s hand-painted T-shirts displayed antiviolence messages, such as, “Love Heals, Violence Hurts.” Another read: “Hands are for Holding Not Hitting.”

Every third week in October is an annual “YWCA Week Without Violence” effort, said Patty Wheeler, who runs the alternatives to domestic violence programs at the YWCA.

“It’s important to reach out so they can learn that they don’t have to stay in abusive relationships,” Wheeler said.

The YWCA operates a shelter seven days a week that can house 40 women and children. It also offers counseling and legal help to abused women, and operates a 24-hour crisis hot line at (509) 326-2255.

Guest speaker Susie Kyle, 36, said she grew up in a household where her stepfather often would come home drunk and beat her mother.

“My big brothers would try to help out. My mom made attempts to leave several times,” Kyle said. “We hid out several times. But he somehow would always find us.”

Kyle described how they would move a big sofa in front of the door so her drunken stepfather couldn’t get inside. His solution was to cut a hole in the floor, which he covered with carpet.

“One night he came up through the floor. It was really scary, like a movie, to have a guy come up through the floor to beat her up,” she said.

Eventually, her mother led her family out in the middle of the night and was able to get away. “You have to be strong enough to move on. My mother did.”

City Councilwoman Mary Verner read a proclamation from Mayor Jim West, and said, “I personally am a victim of domestic violence.

“It’s been six years since I got out of that situation. I pray for everyone who still finds themselves in that situation.”