Jackson honks, waves against domestic violence

The usual quiet morning around the Strom Thurmond Building was broken by a cacophony of cars Oct. 14.Drivers were responding to the waves of a group fr… The usual quiet morning around the Strom Thurmond Building was broken by a cacophony of cars Oct. 14. Drivers were responding to the waves of a group from the Family Advocacy Program and the Criminal Investigation Division with beeps of their car horns. This was all part of the annual Honk and Wave event of Fort Jackson’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “We started doing this probably about three years ago,” said Shenitha Shiver, victim advocate with Fort Jackson’s Army Community Service. “We’ve been trying to bring awareness to domestic violence and getting the community to understand it.” “The honking wave is like them saying they support us out here” and are against domestic violence, Shiver added.

Shiver, who has more than 20 years’ experience as a victims advocate, was an advocate both as a civilian and a service member. “When I first started doing this, South Carolina was ranked like in the top team for domestic violence,” she said. “We are really trying to bring awareness and educate people about healthy relationships, signs of what a healthy relationship is, and try to understand red flags so they can try to avoid domestic violence