A black eye, bruised arm, broken wrist.

A women who covers up in the summer or a man who says the scratches on his neck were caused by a dog that his family doesn’t own.

All of these could be signs of a very troubling situation that many people don’t want to talk about.

On Thursday, the Carbon County Commissioners adopted a proclamation naming October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the hopes of raising awareness for a very serious problem.

Tammy Rodgers, volunteer/educator coordinator at the Domestic Violence Service Center, said that this is a subject that is rampant in society, but one that people don’t talk about often.

“We make sure we provide emergency support services to the victims of domestic violence and their children,” she said of her office.

On average, Domestic Violence Service Center, which is located in Wilkes-Barre with a satellite office in Carbon, receives 450 hotline calls a month and provides services to over 400 adults a month.

She pointed out troubling statistics about just how serious domestic violence can become.

In Carbon, so far this year, two homicides were due to domestic violence, Rodgers said, adding that in neighboring Luzerne County, a total of nine homicides were the result of domestic violence, making Luzerne the third highest number of domestic violence deaths in the state, only behind Philadelphia and Erie County.

“This is something we hope we can eradicate,” Rodgers said, noting that education is key.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that recognizing this problem is the first step in hopefully helping someone in this type of situation.

“People don’t realize just how serious these problems are in Carbon County, and unless we do things like this to make people aware, they will never know if we don’t talk about it,” he said.

The Domestic Violence Service Center services include providing legal advocacy to victims of domestic violence, including court accompaniment to PFA hearings, community support groups, one-on-one counseling and more. All services are free and confidential.

Anyone who is a victim of domestic violence and physical, mental and emotional abuse can call the center’s 24-hour hotline at 800-424-5600 to speak with a counselor advocate.