domestic abuse

This story is part of a two-part series on the effects of the Converse County energy boom on housing in Douglas. 

I knock on the door of an apartment in the one and only income-restricted apartment complex in Douglas. 29-year-old Elise shows me in. Petite with long dark hair and a friendly smile, she gives me a tour of the small apartment she shares with her two children. We're not using her last name to protect her from retaliation. I notice a sign on the living room wall that says, "Home Sweet Home," and for Elise, a home has never been so sweet as this one. About eighteen months ago, Elise left an abusive relationship with her children's father.

Every year the Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault gives out what they call PEACE awards ("promoting excellence in advocacy for change and empowerment"). Back in November, they gave one out for best leadership in policymaking. It went to six Wyoming lawmakers who worked to pass six news laws to better protect victims of violence.

Hoop Dancer Jasmine Bell of the Crow Creek Dakota Sioux tribe in South Dakota has danced for Mohamad Ali and for all the presidential first ladies. Even the actor Kevin Costner. 

Hundreds of people gathered in Laramie earlier this month in memory of victims of Domestic Abuse. Since 1985 over 60 people have been killed in Wyoming in instances of domestic violence, and each year the Silent Witness Ceremony and March pays remembrance.

As a bagpipe plays at the head of a column of people, Sonny and Laurie Pulver hold wooden silhouette between the two of them as they march through the streets of Laramie.

“We’re carrying my husband’s sister’s silhouette. She was killed New Year’s Eve of 1999,” says Laurie.

Stories about domestic abuse, burlesque dancing, Buffalo Bill’s chef, and learning to read.