First Lady Britainy Beshear has announced that this year’s “Shop & Share” event — annually targeting domestic violence in Kentucky — will be from 9 AM until 5 PM this Saturday at Kroger locations across the state.
According to worldpopulationreview.com, Kentuckians experience the highest rate of domestic violence in the country. More than 45% of the state’s women and more than 35% of the state’s men have endured some form of domestic violence. In a single day of 2019, the Commonwealth’s domestic violence programs served 1,420 adult and children survivors, while another 128 requests went unheard due to a lack of resources.
Domestic violence incidence has also spiked since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. During previous lockdown orders and COVID-19 layoffs, the national average of daily domestic violence reports increased more than 8%. According to Kentucky’s Pegasus Institute, that was higher, as Louisville alone saw an increase of 13% from 2019.
Kentucky is currently ranked 11th in the US for femicides — or the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female.
Former First Lady Jane Beshear, Steve’s wife, began the program more than a decade ago. Since the program’s inception, more than $5 million in cash and collections have been made and donated to Kentucky’s Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Two regional locations are part of the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association. Sanctuary, Inc., in Hopkinsville has outreach offices in Cadiz and Madisonville, and serves the counties of Caldwell, Christian, Crittenden, Hopkins, Livingston, Lyon, Muhlenberg, Todd and Trigg counties. Merryman House in Paducah has outreach offices in Murray and Mayfield, and serves Ballard, Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Marshall and McCracken counties.
