'Voices of Hope' launches in Blue Springs with purple silhouettes for domestic violence awareness month

BLUE SPRINGS, MO — KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Grain Valley. Share your story idea with Claire.

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Purple silhouettes are appearing around Blue Springs this October as part of a new campaign aimed at raising awareness about domestic violence.

The Blue Springs Police Department and Hope House, a local domestic violence agency, partnered to launch the Voices of Hope campaign, placing 20 purple silhouettes throughout the city during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Each silhouette features a QR code linking to educational pages or personal stories shared with consent.

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"We provided all of the facts and statistics that our community will see whenever they scan these QR codes. We also provided victim stories and survivor stories," Bri Otto, communications and marketing manager for Hope House, said.

Detective Jacoba Jacobsen of the Blue Springs Police Department, who has spent more than a dozen years with the department, helped spearhead the initiative. She said her years working domestic violence cases motivated her to find new ways to help victims and prevent more.

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"I came across a lot of cases that involved domestic violence and the way it affected so many people, and not just the the primary victim that people think about, and it was something that affected my day-to-day work, and I really wanted to help victims in the way I was able to connect with them," Jacobsen said.

Jacobsen said the Kansas City area as a whole is seeing domestic violence grow as an issue.

"I would say not necessarily that [cases] they are growing in numbers, but I do think that they are growing in severity," Jacobsen said.

Otto said the campaign is designed to spark a broader community conversation about the reach of domestic violence.

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"I'm hoping that people walk away knowing that domestic violence doesn't just affect one person; it affects us all," Otto said.

If you or someone you know needs resources, contact Hope House at 816-461-HOPE.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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