Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Promoting Community Awareness

Standing on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz holding a clothesline with t-shirts designed by survivors of domestic violence, one of many projects dedicated to Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I overheard a passerby make a comment about domestic violence to his male friend. He mockingly said "Dude, I should wear a t-shirt that says, Survivor of Domestic Violence", at which point the two men laughed and continued on. I realized neither of them really wanted to engage in a conversation about domestic violence, whether or not one of them had truly suffered from domestic violence. However, the comment did reaffirm the need for awareness efforts around the issue of domestic violence as not solely a women's issue but a community issue.

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime and 27 percent of family violence victims are male. Also, according to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, approximately 15.5 million children are exposed to domestic violence every year. That means that every day across the nation there are over 42,000 children witnessing domestic violence in their home.

In addition to the physical, emotional and psychological damage domestic violence has on its victims and on victims' families, the medical costs of domestic violence are enormous, annually exceeding $5.8 billion. The impact of domestic violence goes beyond the individual, and as such we must act as a community and work to end domestic violence by raising our own awareness. During the month of October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we encourage you to learn more about domestic violence and to talk to others about what you've learned. Talk to a friend, a coworker, or send your local politician a letter encouraging them to participate in Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities, such as the scheduled for Oct. 17 at the Watsonville Plaza from 6-8 p.m. You can also visit Women's Crisis Support~Defensa de Mujeres' website at www.wcs-ddm.org for more information.

By spreading knowledge about domestic violence you are helping bring awareness to the issue while also increasing the chances you may be sharing knowledge with someone who is living in a domestic violence relationship or knows someone who could benefit from the information. A community committed to promoting awareness is a community committed to ending domestic violence.