Texas Border Business
MCALLEN, TX (October 26, 2016) – In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness month, the Women’s Studies Committee at STC in conjunction with Texas Civil Rights Project-Fuerza del Valle and UTRGV Criminal Justice Club and Honors Society held a press conference to honor the hundreds of victims of domestic violence from 2010 to 2015.
“October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and what we do every year is we honor the victims who have been killed by an intimate partner in Texas,” said Jenny Clark, Associate Professor of Political Science at South Texas College who was also assisting in coordinating the event. “What we have here are gravestones from 2010 to 2015. That year was the largest number we have ever had, 158 women killed due to domestic violence.”
The event was the culmination of the Gravestone Project taking place in different venues across the Valley. Event coordinators have installed the Gravestone Project at the Hidalgo Country Court House as part of the Hidalgo County DA’s Office Domestic Violence Awareness event, and at UTRGV campuses in Edinburg and Brownsville.
The installation of the project concluded at STC Pecan campus on Wednesday, Oct 26 at 11.30 am with a reading of the names of the victims in 2015 followed by brief statements by invited speakers.
Students also held a solemn tribute to a former student from South Texas College on the victim list. Denise Delgado, age 28, was killed by her husband in a murder-suicide in 2015.
The press conference included talks from Rosie Martinez, Victim Specialist, from the Hidalgo County DA’s Office, as well as representatives from Texas Civil Rights VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) program, Mujeres Unidas, Fuerza del Valle, and members of STC’s Counselling Department
