The domestic violence that occurs in smaller communities in Iowa City requires more public attention, officials say.

The University of Iowa’s Council on the Status of Women held its annual roundtable discussion at the Iowa City Public Library on Thursday.

Several organization leaders and members from groups such as the Rape Advocacy Program, the Monsoon, and the Women’s Resource and Action Center attended the event to discuss domestic violence among international, immigrant, and minority populations.

Although many programs are already in place to counter the issue within these communities, unawareness of the availability of the resources is the problem, panel members said.

“It’s shocking to me how many people I’ve contacted who are completely unaware of the resources available to them and that they’re there to help,” said Iowa City Police Department Investigator Scott Stevens said.

With an increasing minority population in the city, Stevens said, the public should try to view the issue from the perspective of smaller communities.

Besides the lack of awareness, panel members also noted that fear of contacting and using local resources is another barrier that communities are facing.

“For someone in poverty, it’s the last thing on their mind to contact the police,” said Alton Poole, community outreach officer of the UI Department of Public Safety. “They will fall back into their normal routines and way of life and not contact police officers.”

Poole and some panel members said domestic violence among the three populations is a difficult issue to assess, and will require time to improve. However, with the involvement of the Iowa City community, members of the panel said, progress is obtainable.

“We have so far to go and it’s such a complex issue.” Poole said. “There’s no silver bullet. We need everyone involved down to the teachers.”

Iowa City Police Department Investigator Scott Stevens said one resources the police supplies to the communities is three full-time officers to assess issues that arise within each separate community.

“We’ve been working with various groups in the community to come together and one of the things we’ve been working on is putting together a PSA about domestic violence,” he said. “It’s so time intensive and requires so many specific resources. It’s very difficult to do, but we’re finding a way.”

However, local law enforcement is not the only organization creating resources for these communities.

Elizabeth Willmore, the administrative services coordinator of UI Office of the Sexual Misconduct Response Coordinator, said the English as a Second Language program is currently developing a new curriculum to assist students with their sexual violence education.

“All international students are already required to take online sexual violence education courses. The goal of the new program is to give more time to think about and discuss these issues,” she said.