SULLIVAN, WAYNE AND PIKE COUNTIES — October 1 marks the start of domestic violence awareness month, and local agencies are spreading awareness and providing services to victims to decrease the stigma and prevent future victimizations.

The River Reporter spoke with representatives from the Sullivan County District Attorney’s office, law enforcement agencies and nonprofit advocacy groups to learn about what domestic violence looks like, what resources are available to help and the importance of the month.

Understanding domestic violence

Domestic violence can happen to anyone. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites that intimate partner violence affects more than one in three women and one in six men. A neighbor, a coworker or a friend could be affected by domestic violence.

What is domestic violence? It can look like many things, but is defined by the United Nations as “a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner.” It encompasses many types of behavior, not just physical abuse. 

"It can be stalking, controlling of finances or controlling of transportation means,” Sullivan County Victim Services Coordinator Jade Corelli told the River Reporter. 

Randi Bannon, Executive Director of the Victims' Intervention Program (VIP) in Wayne and Pike county, said that domestic abuse can also look like general isolation from loved ones and emotional abuse.

With technology being a crucial part of daily life now, Sheila Parks, Special Assistant to the Sullivan County District Attorney, said that cyber domestic violence is a newer form of abuse. That can look like accessing passwords, locations and more, according to Parks.

“We’ve seen cases where it’s absolutely domestic violence, but no one is hitting anyone. It’s stealing cell phones, breaking cell phones, not letting someone leave the house, not letting someone call for help or their loved ones, taking their money [or] moving them away,” Jenna Hastings, Sullivan County’s Executive ADA Special Victims Unit, said about modern domestic violence cases.

With the increase of AI use, Hastings said she has also seen abusers use AI and Deepfakes to further hurt victims.

Deepfakes are AI-generated images of a person using their likeness. They can be used by offenders to create sexually-explicit images of a victim to further exert control and continue their abuse.

So, why can’t victims just leave an abusive situation?

“Leaving is the most dangerous time for victims and survivors. Women are murdered when they're attempting to leave, told someone they were leaving or have left,” Fearless! Hudson Valley executive director Kellyann Kostyal-Larrier said. Fearless! Is a service provider for Orange and Sullivan counties that assists with support for domestic/sexual violence victims, human trafficking victims, and teen dating violence.

The CDC cites that over half of female homicide victims in the U.S are killed by a former or current male intimate partner. 

Research from the American Journal of Public Health has also found that an abuser having access to a firearm makes it five times more likely to result in a homicide.

A lack of financial independence and isolation from other loved ones as a result of the offender's control can also be factors that make it hard to leave.

Resources

Increased risks of lethality are why law enforcement like Liberty Police Department are taking a different approach to domestic violence incidents. 

Detective Harold Nunuvero.

Photo provided by LibertyPD

Liberty Police Chief Steve D’Agata told the River Reporter that when police officers respond to a domestic violence incident, they will have the victim take a lethality assessment, which is a “number of evidence-based questions that have statistically been proven to indicate a higher risk of lethality in instances of intimate partner violence”

Based on the assessment scoring, victims will then be connected with a Fearless! advocate through their 24-hour hotline (845/562-5340) to create a safety plan and assist with resources. 

A lethality assessment asks questions about the offender's past behaviors, access to weapons and more, according to D’Agata. 

D’Agata added that in August of last year, the Liberty Police Department was awarded funding through the New York State Crisis Intervention Program, which allowed the department to promote officer Harold Nunuvero to a detective role, where he now focuses on a concentrated amount of incidents, especially domestic violence cases.

Since Nunuvero started his detective role, he has worked on over 200 intimate partner violence cases, according to D’Agata. In 2026, 47 arrests related to intimate partner violence were made by LibertyPD.

Adding Nunuvero to a detective role has allowed domestic violence cases to be investigated more thoroughly, D’Agata said. “Detective Nunovero follows up 24, 48 hours later, [and] he often is able to uncover additional evidence and sometimes even additional crimes that may not have been charged and make arrests that maybe were not able to have been made by the additional patrol response,”

Additionally, Nunuvero follows up with abusers weeks later and lets them know their behavior is not welcome in the community, according to D’Agata.

“He's basically letting the bad guy know that he's watching them, and he's letting the victim survivors know that he is there for them as another resource,” he said.

VIP advocates beamed during Thursday's meeting after receiving a certificate of recognition from the Wayne County commissioners.

Victim Intervention Program, the only victim service provider in Wayne and Pike county, provides a small shelter to victims in need, according to executive director Randi Bannon.

Volunteers and advocates from VIP gathered after a thursday commissioners meeting to place 610 pinwheels, which each represent a victim served by the organization.

VIP volunteer John Tomik installed several of the hundreds of pinwheels outside the Wayne County courthouse, which represent every victim the organization has served.

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In Pennsylvania, VIP, which is the only victim service provider in Wayne and Pike counties, offers many resources for victims, including temporary housing.

“There are no homeless shelters or warming shelters in Wayne or Pike County. Victims Intervention Program is the only domestic violence shelter that serves both of those counties.” Bannon said, adding that VIP’s shelter can house five adults, but has air mattresses or rollaway cots for children. “We typically have to refer people to either Monroe County or Lackawanna County.”

Bannon added that VIP also has risk reduction programs in school districts that provide “prevention education to school-age children to start talking about healthy relationships, what they look like, what they sound like [and] what they feel like,” with a goal to hopefully lower the amount of future victims.

On the New York side of the river corridor, Fearless! has similar resources, providing shelter, legal help and social services if needed. In 2025, the Fearless! hotline responded to over 10,000 calls.

“New York state is still the second highest state in the nation for needs and services when it comes to domestic violence. Our calls for services and resources are up 30% over the last five years, up 19% from last year alone.” Kostyal-Larrier said.

For legal battles, Hastings and Corelli assist victims by guiding them through the court system.

Corelli said that in order to make the victims feel more comfortable, she tries to get to know them prior to trials.

”We like to know who they are outside of what happened to them,” Hastings added.

Corelli, who said she started working as a victim services coordinator in October of last year, said she has met and helped over 100 victims and focuses on felony cases.

In addition to getting to know the victim, she also helps them with victim impact statements, sometimes reading them for the victim if they aren’t comfortable. 

“More often than not, they are more than happy to face them [their abuser] and read their statement out. It’s usually a very healing experience, and they come out of court like a weight is lifted off their shoulders,” she said.

During the trial, Corelli also gives victims updates on their case, as things can move slowly in the justice system.

“The young adults prefer the texts over the calls. Very responsive that way.” she said.

Hastings said she is grateful for Corelli’s victim advocacy, as she herself has legal ethics she must abide by. 

”Sometimes the community can be very disappointed in the sentences of some defendants. They think that it’s too low, and sometimes, I agree. My limitations are bound by the sentencing structure that was set by the New York State Legislature,” Hastings said.

Hastings said her goal as a prosecutor isn’t to “win” but to get justice for the victims, regardless of how that is achieved.

“For me, my goal at the end of the day, and what I tell victims when I meet them sometimes, is: ‘I want you to be in a better place when this is done than from where you are right now.’ And sometimes that doesn't mean that someone is incarcerated in prison, sometimes it does mean that.” she said.

Domestic violence awareness month

While abuse happens at all times of the year, advocates emphasize the importance of having a domestic violence awareness month to reduce stigma so victims feel more comfortable getting help, and to help create new laws.

”Without awareness, we have tragedy,” Hastings said, referring to high domestic violence incidents in surrounding counties. “Having that awareness can make laws change before something tragic happens,”

In Dutchess County, Melanie Chianese, a 29-year-old, was murdered by her mother’s ex-boyfriend. This occurred after Chianese was denied an order of protection due to a gap in New York laws that only allowed protective orders for minors in the household. Melanie’s Law was passed in 2024, which allows protective orders to extend to adults related by blood or marriage. 

Kostyal-Larrier said that domestic violence awareness month will not only bring awareness, but also move away “from this idea that domestic violence is a private matter, when in fact, someone who's terrorizing their partner and or their children, that behavior impacts not only the partner and the children, but an entire community.”

Bannon echoed these sentiments, explaining that having an awareness month will help survivors know they aren’t alone, remember those who have lost their lives to domestic violence, and encourage people to “have a role in creating safer, healthier communities.”

On October 1, to mark the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Sullivan County Legislature adopted a proclamation recognizing the work Fearless! Does for the community and to bring awareness. 

Outside the Sullivan County Government Center, Fearless! Hung up a visual clothesline display, which consisted of shirts made by survivors of domestic violence and remembering those who had been lost. 

“So many victims and survivors over the years have made shirts. They're hung on a clothesline. We ask individuals as they're arriving to walk the line, to reflect and hold space. This is about not only honoring survivors and victims, but also mourning those who have been taken from us.” Kostyal-Larrier said.

The Clothesline project outside the Sullivan County Government Center on October 1 consisted of shirts made by domestic violence survivors, with the goal of spreading awareness.

The Clothesline project on October 1 also honored those who had passed from domestic violence.

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Also on October 1, the Wayne County commissioners presented VIP with a certificate of recognition, acknowledging the work it does.

Outside the Wayne county courthouse, pinwheels and signage with domestic violence facts were placed out on the lawn. The courthouse will also be lit purple for a couple weeks in October to bring awareness of the month.

The pinwheels, according to Bannon, each represent a survivor served by VIP. There are 610 of them. 

Looking ahead

Bannon said while funding is a challenge for victim advocacy groups, she hopes that VIP can one day have batterer intervention programs. Batterer intervention programs are programs that “hold abusers accountable for their actions with the hope of reducing victimizations” 

Hastings said that they are looking to hire another victim services coordinator, as Corelli focuses on felonies and not misdemeanors. 

“We have been awarded a second OVS (Office of Victim Services) grant, which begins October 1st, and we’ll have a second advocate here by the end of the year. We’re in the interviewing process right now, so it’s very exciting,” Parks said.

Hastings added that the DA’s office is also working on an intimate partner violence task force, which would would mean the office would collaborate with local police agencies to “identify our most serious domestic violence offenders, so that we can disrupt the cycle of violence earlier rather than later.”

Parks and Corelli also hope the new funding can be used towards getting a service dog for the department in the future.

Corelli, whose role is to make domestic violence victims feel as comfortable as possible, hopes to get s service dog for the department soon.

Jade Corelli, victim services coordinator, said she tries to keep her office space warm and cozy for victims to feel comfortable, including child victims.

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