DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER
DOVE HOUSE
Dove House is Butler County’s only emergency protective shelter for survivors, dependents & pets fleeing domestic violence and the associated trauma. We are a low barrier shelter. Our services are available to everyone including LGBTQIA+, human trafficking & sexual assault survivors, unverified immigration status, and men.
Services include:
- 24-hour protective shelter
- Crisis Hotline
- Housing Case Management
- Support and educational groups
Since 1979, Dove House has been working to provide safety and promote healing to those fleeing domestic violence, one of the most pervasive threats to safety and well-being both nationally and locally.
The Numbers
Within the last year YWCA Hamilton sheltered approximately 195 survivors. Within the last year DH sheltered 195 survivors with 10,182 bed nights in total. Of those families 1% retuned to abuser, 65% of survivors transitioned into additional shelter programs or temporary housing arrangements with relatives or friends, and 34% acquired safe housing.
For the 2024 Fiscal Year Ohio still spends less per capita compared to other neighboring states like Indiana and Kentucky.
Ohio experiences a significant economic loss every year because of intimate partner violence, according to a study commissioned by the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN). The cost — estimated at nearly $1.2 billion affects all Ohioans, from the direct losses experienced by victims, to lost worker productivity, a cost born by employers.
The largest economic factors were physical health care for victims ($264.8 million annually, or 22.9% of the total cost); loss of life ($239.9 million, or 20.8%); and loss of worker productivity ($227.7 million, or 19.7%)
Those costs ripple out throughout the state with increased expenses for law enforcement and the judicial system; for incarcerating abusers; and for the long-term impact that domestic violence has on the children who witness the violence and are sometimes physically hurt themselves.
(ODVN)
One Success At A Time
For more than ten years, Jane (not her name) had been living with an abuser because he was the father of her child. She made several unsuccessful attempts to leave him but it was especially difficult because the apartment was in her name. She grew more fearful and worried because their five-year-old daughter was now in a world where the abuse was escalating. Finally, Jane was able escape to find safety at Dove House. Jane, with her daughter, lived at the shelter, learning how to rebuild her life. She stayed even though she had a long commute to work as she knew that she desperately needed to keep to her job to be able to afford safe housing. Dove House staff and Rapid Rehousing worked with Jane to locate a housing unit and to help her with the transition. While in our care, Jane reported that her daughter really looked forward to returning to our shelter each evening. Jane explained that being at Dove House was the first time and she and her daughter were able to experience peace!
Proud Member of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network
YWCA Hamilton is a proud member of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN), a statewide coalition dedicated to ending domestic violence and supporting survivors. Through this partnership, we join forces with organizations across Ohio to advocate for stronger protections, share resources, and provide comprehensive services that promote safety, healing, and justice for all impacted by domestic violence.
2025 Domestic Violence Summit:
Strangulation and its Hidden Injuries - October 17th
8:30 - 9:00
Registration, coffee and pastries
9:00 - 9:15
Welcome & Introductions
9:15 - 9:30
Survivor’s Perspective: Lifting Our Voice to Empower (L.OV.E.)
Erinn Richards
Our survivor will share her story, and how she has turned her experience into an opportunity to be a voice for all survivors with her annual L.O.V.E. Walk.
9:30 - 10:30
The Critical Work of a Forensic Nurse Examiner
Jennifer Bolender, BSN, RN, FNE, TNCC
As a Forensic Nurse Examiner, Jen provides compassionate, specialized care to patients who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, strangulation, and other forms of trauma. In this session, Jen will provide an overview of her work with survivors, emphasizing the pivotal role forensic examinations play in both the medical care of victims and the preservation of evidence crucial to the prosecution of criminal cases.
10:30 - 10:40
Break
10:40 - 11:40
Prosecutor’s Perspective
Attorney Lance Salyers
In this session, Attorney Salyers will share his experience as an assistant prosecuting attorney handling child/sexual assault cases. This will include a discussion of the difficulties of prosecuting domestic violence cases generally, emphasizing the added challenges of cases involving strangulation. Attorney Salyers will share complications he sometimes encounters when working with survivors of trauma who may be struggling with their physical or mental health, and his suggestions for navigating those issues.
11:40 - 12:00
Lunch (provided by sponsors)
12:00 - 1:45
The Forensic Evaluation and Investigation of Near-Fatal and Fatal Strangulations
Dr. William Smock
In this session Dr. Smock, an internationally recognized forensic expert and Police Surgeon with the Louisville Metro Police Department, will discuss the challenges in evaluating strangulation and suffocation cases. Participants will gain an understanding of basic physiology and terminology, the signs and symptoms of strangulation and suffocation, and will learn about new techniques used by clinicians to assess a strangled victim. Dr. Smock will explain why strangulation constitutes great bodily injury and poses a substantial risk of death or impairment to the brain, lungs and heart.
1:45 - 2:00
Break
2:00 - 4:00
The Forensic Evaluation and Investigation of Near-Fatal and Fatal Strangulations, Cont'd
Dr. William Smock
After a brief break, Dr. Smock will educate participants about short- and long-term health consequences of strangulation and suffocation. He aims to improve identification and documentation of strangulation and suffocation by dispatchers, medical providers, police, and others who work closely with victims. The session will also encourage increased communication and collaboration between agencies working with victims. Lastly, Dr. Smock will help participants understand how Ohio’s 2023 strangulation law can be used to investigate and prosecute strangulation and suffocation cases.
About Trauma
"Trauma refers to experiences or events that by definition are out of the ordinary in terms of their overwhelming nature. They are more than merely stressful - they are shocking, terrifying, and devastating to the victim, resulting in profoundly upsetting feelings of terror, shame, helplessness, and powerlessness." (Courtois, 1999)
Did you know?
- Every 2 ½ minutes, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted.
- One in three women have been a victim of domestic violence.
- Twenty-five percent of college women have been raped.
- Seventy percent of cyberstalking victims are female.
- Forty percent of teenage girls ages 14 to 17 say they know someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.
- More than 5.7 million youth are estimated to be involved in bullying.
- Homicide is the leading cause of death for all pregnant women.
- 18,000 to 20,000 of the victims of human trafficking are trafficked into the United States annually.
