New Billboards Target Polygamy Abuses
 
The Associated Press
KUTV Channel 2
 
HILDALE/COLORADO CITY Four billboards were posted in towns near the southern Utah polygamist community of Hildale on Friday, aimed at getting information about domestic violence to residents who may not know how to get help.

The billboards were donated by Reagan Outdoor Advertising and posted in St. George, Cedar City, Parowan and Mount Carmel, said Paul Murphy, spokesman for Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. All are within an hour's drive of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., where most members of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints make their homes.

"The thought was that the polygamist communities have been underserved when it comes to information about domestic violence," Murphy said. "We don't know if there is more domestic violence in those communities, but we know that they have less access when it comes to education."

Shurtleff tried for more than a year to get billboards posted in the area, Murphy said. Funds from a federal Safe Passage grant, which is earmarked to aid victims of domestic violence from plural families, were to be used. But the cost of a single billboard proved to be so high, that the plan was sidelined.

Reagan offered to supply the billboards after a conversation with Shurtleff, Murphy said.

The billboards carry the message "When it Hurts At Home" and give the confidential 24-hour toll-free number to the Domestic Violence Link Line, 1-800-897-LINK.

Hotline staff have been trained specifically about issues that may be facing those living in or coming out of polygamy, but can assist anyone, Murphy said.

"We're trying to reach out to (polygamists) but in the process, help a lot of other people," he said.

Arizona launched a similar program, the Safe Talk Helpline, last year. A billboard for that program is posted on Highway 59 between Hurricane and Hildale.
 
KUTV.com
Originally published June 17, 2006
 
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