123 domestic violence victims killed last year in Pa. They were honored during a Capitol ceremony.

• Ed Mahon
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  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Ed Mahon / PA Post

Domestic violence advocates hold signs with the names of victims during a ceremony at the state Capitol on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019, in Harrisburg, Pa.

Advocates are trying to bring greater attention to domestic violence  — and ways to prevent it. 

At a Capitol ceremony on Monday, government leaders, lawmakers and advocates honored 123 victims who were killed last year.

Nearly 60 percent of the victims died by gunfire. Nearly 70 percent were female. And nearly 70 percent were killed by a current or former intimate partner.

“These grim statistics indicate that we still have much more work to do,” Susan Higginbotham, CEO of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said during a Capitol ceremony.

Over the most recent 10-year period, the annual number of domestic violence victim deaths in Pennsylvania reached a high of 135 in 2010, according to data collected by the coalition.

The lowest number of domestic violence deaths occurred in 2014 and 2016, when there were 105 deaths each of those years.

Higginbotham’s group is working on legislation that would increase the availability of safe and affordable housing for victims — although the proposal has not been introduced yet in the legislature.

Ed Mahon / PA Post

Gisele Fetterman, the Second Lady of Pennsylvania, speaks during a domestic violence awareness ceremony at the state Capitol on Oct. 21, 2019.

The group is also looking to increase state funding for domestic violence services.

In this year’s budget, lawmakers approved a 10 percent increase — raising the budget line item from nearly $17.4 million to nearly $19.1 million.

During Monday’s ceremony, Second Lady Gisele Fetterman said giving victims more options for affordable housing, education and financial security will make it easier for them to escape dangerous situations.

She described how a domestic violence victim reached out to her about eight years ago, when Fetterman’s husband was the mayor of Braddock in Allegheny County.

“I arrived to a very scared, very bruised young woman and her two children,” Fetterman said. “And I quickly, as I ushered her through this world, I landed in the lap of advocates … who were so welcoming, so supportive, and were really able to become the bridge that allowed her to come through on the other side, which she did.”

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