It's pretty common knowledge that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Everything is decked out in pink and large scale events are held to raise funds for research and awareness. Breast Cancer Awareness shares October with another important cause, though, and it tends to really overshadow that cause. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month as well. If you live in the town where I work, you will see purple ribbons on the police cruisers. You won't see or hear much else, though. I work with domestic violence victims. It's something that I'm completely passionate about and believe me when I say that it affects everyone on some level. Even if you've never been a victim yourself, chances are you know someone who has. At the very least, there are economic impacts that affect everyone. In some ways, I'm kind of annoyed that we need a month for awareness. This is an issue that we should be talking about every month. I think that we've made a lot of progress over the years, but domestic violence is still something people don't feel comfortable talking about, so it continues.
If you've been looking for a way to help others or improve your community, there are a ton of easy ways to help victims of domestic violence. Agencies like the one I work for can always use a little help. Find out what agency or organization serves your area and see how you can help. You don't have to necessarily volunteer time or donate money. Do you have some old cellphones laying around? They can be donated to be used as emergency phones for victims to contact 911. Victims and their children sometimes flee to shelters with only the clothes on their backs. At our shelter and others, I'd imagine, donated clothing, toiletries, and baby items are essential.
I'm including some great links below that have ideas for other ways to help and that are working hard to raise awareness. I don't mean in any way to belittle the importance of Breast Cancer Awareness, but I think this cause deserves some attention too!
Thanks for posting this Molly. A dear friend of mine and Heidi's was killed Oct 25, 2007 from a result of domestic violence. Her family started a charity called In Honor Of Her.org to help others. It breaks my heart to know so many women feel trapped and helpless where they should feel secure and loved.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, Katie! I hadn't heard of the charity, but looked at the site yesterday. It's beautiful. I work hard so that women don't feel so trapped and helpless, and although it's tough, I wouldn't choose to do anything else.
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