Downtown Lexington business leaders host domestic violence prevention campaign, ‘It’s Time’

Monday night business leaders gathered at the Old Courthouse in downtown Lexington to address domestic violence in the work place. The campaign, 'It's Time' stresses the importance of prevention and awareness.

Lexington, Ky (WTVQ): Monday night business leaders gathered at the Old Courthouse in downtown Lexington to address domestic violence in the work place. The campaign, ‘It’s Time’ stresses the importance of prevention and awareness.

Business leaders came to support the campaign.  ‘It’s Time’ started last year when Lexington saw 14 domestic violence related homicides. Ouita Michel, a local restaurateur, said “This campaign to me is a lesson for our whole community in showing up for people who are survivors of domestic violence.”

According to Michel, Kentucky has the highest rates of stalking in the country. To help put an end to domestic violence, the ‘It’s Time’ campaign has three pillars: know about it, talk about it, and do something about it. “And this did happen to us at Honeywood, and I’m sure that it’s happened to our company countless times that I know nothing about,” she said.

Michel says that 83% of domestic violence survivors report the abusive partner harassed them while at work. “We realized at that time, hey, we need to learn a lot more about this,” she said. “We need to have a strategy in place. We need to be able to tell our employees where they can seek help.”

Wes Hogan, the owner of Old North Bar, came out to learn how to provide more resources to his employees. “To help them overcome any challenges they have to deal with it something invaluable,” he said.

In the future, Michel hopes to see a decrease in domestic violence crimes. “I think we become more open, more inclusive, more supportive of one another when we engage in city wide campaigns like this,” she said.

The organization’s website is itstimelexington.org