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Figures symbolize murdered women Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Domestic violence cast a somber shadow Monday at the Jackson County Justice Building. Twenty-two cutouts representing murdered Oregon women stood as part of "Silent Witness," a traveling exhibit on domestic violence. John Purcell of Medford stopped to read one of the plaques that offered details on the deaths of the murdered women. By Jonel Aleccia It was a quiet crowd that filled the foyer of the Jackson County Justice Building Monday morning. Red wooden figures of 22 women stood near walls, gathered in doorways and loomed over couches, mute symbols of victims of domestic violence in Oregon. Each cut-out carried a shield engraved with the name of a woman, her age and the date of her death at the hands of an intimate abuser. "I�ve had people say it�s too sad, it�s too emotional for me," said Joie Ward Stover, coordinator of the Oregon Silent Witness Exhibit, a traveling display showing this week in Jackson County. The project will be offered today at local Adult and Family Service offices and on Wednesday at Rogue Community College. More than 200 people saw the display on Saturday in Ashland�s Plaza, including several who wrote public comments. "I like the in-your-face approach to a �behind-closed-doors� crime," wrote one woman. Most passersby at the Justice Building paused in front of the figures and then continued somberly on their way. "I can almost never talk about it without tearing up," said Stover, a state Justice Department program manager. But evoking emotion and thought is the point of the project, says Stover, who brought Silent Witness south as part of October�s Domestic Violence Awareness Month. There�s something about the full-sized figures of individual women that makes the problem of domestic violence more compelling than statistics. Still, the statistics aren�t good. Each year in Jackson County, the district attorney�s office processes more than 800 cases involving domestic violence, according to Jennifer Maile, co-chairwoman of the county council addessing the issue. More than 300 women seek help from Dunn House, the area shelter for battered women and children. "And we always say that�s just a small portion of the crimes that actually happen," Maile said. Sponsored by Womanspace of Eugene, the project is modeled on the first Silent Witness exhibit created in 1990 in Minnesota. Agency volunteers create the figures and make them available for display for only $50. Cost wasn�t an issue in bringing the display here, but Stover said she had a hard time finding space. The Rogue Valley Mall, for instance, declined to house the exhibit, said Stover, adding that she met with the mall�s marketing director. "She came out and said this is not the kind of thing they like to see at the mall," Stover said. Marketing director Jill Ditty said she had not given Stover an answer about the exhibit. "We didn�t say no. I�d forgotten to discuss it with our general manager," Ditty said. Ditty declined to say whether mall management would support an anti-domestic violence display. "I have no comment on that," she said. For more information about the display, contact Stover at 776-6043, extension 252. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.