I know a lot of people are aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month but did you also know that it is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month too? I think the purple ribbons get lost among the pink ones but there is no reason why the two cannot be worn together as they are both issues that affect thousands of women everyday.
Besides being the leading cause of injury to women in the United States (a woman is beaten every 15 seconds), it is an issue of increasing concern because of its negative effect on all family members, especially children. Domestic violence is not only physical and sexual violence but also psychological. The batterer uses acts of violence and a series of behaviors, including intimidation, threats, psychological abuse, and isolation to coerce and to control the other person. The violence may not happen often, but can be a hidden and constant terrorizing factor. No one deserves to be abused. The responsibility for the violence belongs to the abuser. It is not the victim's fault!
Domestic Violence Awareness month was conceived by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and each October agencies across America devote the month to conduct a range of activities at the local, state, and national levels. These activities range from pet parades, marches, vigils and even pumpkin picking! This is just a sample of the activities being conducted by agencies in my area so be sure to check out your local paper, or better yet, find out more information about Domestic Violence Prevention programs in your area. These programs need help year around and can always use a volunteer, even if it is just to pass out flyers about program services or organizing clothing donations.
These programs exist to help raise awareness, try to hold offenders accountable for their actions and to provide survivors with services and tools to help rebuild and heal their lives. Pledge to end violence in our homes and in our communities!
To learn more about Domestic Violence please visit the following link:
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: http://www.ncadv.org/
Besides being the leading cause of injury to women in the United States (a woman is beaten every 15 seconds), it is an issue of increasing concern because of its negative effect on all family members, especially children. Domestic violence is not only physical and sexual violence but also psychological. The batterer uses acts of violence and a series of behaviors, including intimidation, threats, psychological abuse, and isolation to coerce and to control the other person. The violence may not happen often, but can be a hidden and constant terrorizing factor. No one deserves to be abused. The responsibility for the violence belongs to the abuser. It is not the victim's fault!
Domestic Violence Awareness month was conceived by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and each October agencies across America devote the month to conduct a range of activities at the local, state, and national levels. These activities range from pet parades, marches, vigils and even pumpkin picking! This is just a sample of the activities being conducted by agencies in my area so be sure to check out your local paper, or better yet, find out more information about Domestic Violence Prevention programs in your area. These programs need help year around and can always use a volunteer, even if it is just to pass out flyers about program services or organizing clothing donations.
These programs exist to help raise awareness, try to hold offenders accountable for their actions and to provide survivors with services and tools to help rebuild and heal their lives. Pledge to end violence in our homes and in our communities!
To learn more about Domestic Violence please visit the following link:
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: http://www.ncadv.org/
If you feel you are in a violent relationship and need help please call:
National Domestic Violence Hotline:
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
(or visitwww.ndvh.org/)
You are not alone!
Just wanted to tell you I liked what you wrote here. Very informative. Thank you. I'll be sharing it. One very important key to ending domestic violence is to get people to get involvef and not stand idly by. For so long, everyone has thought of this as "none of MY business; that's between THEM." And they just walk on by as if it isn't happening or they turn their ears the other way & pretend they don't hear through the walls...... Some say about the victim, "She LIKES it!" & assume that to be true since she keeps going back or because she doesn't leave right away. They just don't know. There are MANY factors that contribute to why someone will go back or not leave right away . Perhaps if we all could get educated and work together to help victims of violent crimes, it might be more of an option for her or him to leave and get help and not go back.. If the victim knows she CAN receive help if she tries to get it, and perhaps if she knows that there is some compassion & understanding from others and perhaps if she knows she has some RIGHTS & that law enforcement & the legal system are going to do all THEY can to help her and that they actually value her and work to ensure her safety and have the perpetrator take responsibility for his actions to the fullest extent of the law and not just get slaps on the wrist & if the laws regarding violent assaults were more geared toward keeping habitual perpetrators of violence incarcerated for the longest time possible, maybe victims would feel more like if they DID leave and didn't go back, there would be help out there and a community who isn't going to ask her, "Well, WHY do you keep going BACK? You must LIKE getting beat!" whether you went back or not. And, in the rare Instances when an abuser does beat someone in public, let's ALL not look the other way and ignore what we hear. Believe me, peer pressure does work even on adults. If another or a FEW others lets the abuser know they will not tolerate this and that the abuser needs to stop immediately and the police are called, that abuser will most likely stop because they may fear others will beat HIM (& let's face it, most male abusers are really cowards and don't fight other men because they're really TOUGH guys; they fight women!), they feel embarrassed, and fear social ostracism, & also they don't want to have any negative consequences, like having to gp to jail and be charged with domestic violence assault charges because of their actions. The more info we put out there that can help educate people, the better. Maybe one day, we'll all take a stand to say "NO MORE"! and stamp out this awful thing forever. It is not okay. It's not just a family affair. And it's a problem that affects us all.
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