Cassie Skaggs grew up in a home where her mother and aunt were abused. She made it through without a scratch, aside from the ones you can’t see. Now a senior political science major, she is nearing the end of her undergraduate career and looking to pursue a career that combats domestic violence.

In January, Skaggs joined Safe Passage, a shelter for the abused. After completing training in February, she became a legal advocate intern, helping victims keep court appearances and fill out orders of protection – a legal document that helps victims avoid further abuse and harassment.

Safe Passage serves DeKalb County with three major programs: the DeKalb County Domestic Abuse program – a batterers’ intervention program – a sexual assault and abuse program and a domestic violence program.

They serve about 300 clients each month through the 24-hour hot line or by providing shelter, food and counseling. Regardless, victims are guaranteed 100 percent confidentiality.

A victim of domestic abuse can call the hot line as often as needed.

Up to 30 people can sleep in the shelter, said Cynthia Folgate, community resources director for Safe Passage.

The shelter acts as a short-term haven whereas apartments prepared by Safe Passage are used for long-term transition processes.

Beyond providing shelter, the agency improves a victim’s chances of recovery by helping them learn the skills necessary to get a job if needed.

“We don’t go out there and find the jobs for them,” Folgate said. They need to be responsible for their lives and make their own decisions, “not exchange one controlling person for another controlling person.”

About 60 percent of marriages are affected by domestic violence and one in every five people are victims of dating violence.

Although a wide swath of marriages are affected in some way by domestic abuse, there are no clear distinctions over what kind of people are most susceptible.

They come from all races and socioeconomic backgrounds, Folgate said. Strong-minded women, despite their assertiveness, are no less vulnerable.

“If there is one thing I learned in my 13 years here, it is that we never ever know what goes on in someone else’s home,” she said.

That doesn’t mean she hasn’t been shocked in the past, though. Doctors, lawyers and judges, along with less prominent figures have come through the offices, Skaggs said.

“I was surprised because you don’t expect a certain group of people to be doing things like that,” she said.

Diane Pospisil-Kinney, a counselor at NIU, said part of the reason stories of victims may surprise people is the way society views victims.

Instead of questioning the actions of the abuser, the victim is asked why he or she stays in the relationship and takes the violence, she said.

“Which gives the idea that the victim has power and control over the perpetrator or the abuser when they really don’t,” Pospisil-Kinney said.

An abuser tries to break a victim down emotionally, spiritually and psychologically, then mold them into what he or she wants, Pospisil-Kinney said.

“In a healthy relationship you don’t want to lose who you are. You want to be able to be with someone as a couple but maintain your identity,” she said.

As Skaggs sat at the kitchen table she sighed and said, “A lot of people don’t know all the aspects and dynamics of violence in the home.”

She is working on getting into law school and hopes to one day work with the state’s attorney’s office prosecuting cases of domestic violence.