Presentation on Domestic Abuse Slated Thursday

Nine people have died from domestic violence in Berkshire County in the last three years.

Requests for restraining orders is 33 percent higher in Berkshire County than in the rest of the state.

"Those are indicators that we have a problem," says District Attorney Andrea Harrington, describing it as a public health issue as much as a crime issue.

Harrington's office, through the Berkshire Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force, is bringing award-winning journalist Rachel Louise Snyder to Pittsfield to speak about her latest book, "No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us."

Snyder will be at the Colonial Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The presentation is part of the task force's "One Book, One Community" project in conjunction with the Elizabeth Freeman Center.