FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — Law enforcement agencies will tell you between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, domestic violence calls increase.
“Domestic violence and intimate partner violence cases can be some of the most dangerous cases for any law enforcement to respond to,” Detective Phillip Wongsing with the Fayetteville Police Department said.
Wongsing works in the Special Victims Unit and investigates a lot of domestic violence cases.
He said domestic violence cases normally rise during holidays, when couples are spending more time than usual together. Things can quickly escalate from verbal abuse to threats and physical harm.
“If children are exposed to domestic violence at an early age, not to say that they are going to grow up and do that. But they might participate in a relationship where they are being abused,” Detective Wongsing said.
He believes a lot of abuse is underreported due to embarrassment and victims hoping things will change.
While domestic violence cases are on the rise, funding for many programs across North Carolina has been cut.
“It is a community all encompassing effort that’s going to require a lot of different ideas and opinions and approaches to assign these survivors,” Wongsing said.
There are several resources available to survivors including the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. The North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence has a website full of other resources at nccadv.org.
Justin Moore
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