According to a U.S. Department of Justice study, nearly 25 percent of surveyed women said they were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabitating partner, or date at sometime in their lifetime. According to these estimates, approximately 1.5 million women were raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually.

From October 2003 to September 2004, domestic violence programs in Michigan received 55,208 crisis calls, an average of 151 calls per day. A call that could just have easily come from a close relative, friend or coworker suffering the vicious cycle of domestic violence and abuse. These alarming statistics are just one of the reasons organizations like SAFE (Sisters Acquiring Financial Empowerment) were created to help ill-treated and abused women.

Kalyn Risker, a survivor of domestic violence and founder/executive director or SAFE, suffered six years before finally being able to get out of a verbally and physically abusive relationship.

“I don’t feel I was really brave because of how I got out – I got out when I was taken to the emergency room,” Risker says of an incident of abuse which landed her in the ER.

After sustaining multiple injuries including two black eyes, a pinched nerve and an orbital fracture requiring major emergency surgery in 1998, she decided she’d had enough: “I had to have reconstructive surgery and a titanium implant.” The incident would be the last time Kalyn Risker would suffer at the hands of her abuser.

Risker took her situation as an opportunity to rebuild herself mentally and financially, enrolling at Davenport University and earning a BA with a human resource administration specialty. As a human resource manager, she met with other women who were victims of domestic violence.

“That is when I came up with the idea for SAFE. It’s different from other programs for survivors of domestic violence because it is specifically designed to break the cycle of economic abuse,” she said.

Beginning May 2006, SAFE officially began providing services in the greater metropolitan Detroit area. The training that SAFE provides free of charge to participants addresses the need for survivors to gain employment, economic empowerment and financial independence because many have either relied on the abuser to provide financially and/or the abuser has attempted to impede their financial situation.

“All of our services are provided by individuals who are professionals within their field,” Risker said, adding that the importance of such a program is paramount and increases the likelihood that a survivor will continue to survive on her own.

“At SAFE, we don’t pass judgment” she noted.

Participants are trained in how to build a resumé, financial planning and networking skills as well as how to stay safe when seeking employment because an abuser may try to prevent the victim from seeking employment by starting an argument, fighting or creating a situation when the victim is forced to be late or even miss an interview. Programs such as Sisters Acquiring Financial Empowerment allow women to be empowered beyond abuse and toward healing.

The Woodward Restaurant will be hosting SAFE’s Second Annual Appreciation Event Tuesday, Dec. 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25, which includes an award presentation, light refreshments, silent auction, networking and announcements of many new initiatives.

For more information on SAFE and its programs, please contact Sisters Acquiring Financial Empowerment (SAFE) at 800-757-4919 or e-mail safe_start@yahoo.com.

Listen to the SAFE Internet radio talk show at www.blogtalkradio.com/SAFE.