October is DV Awareness Month

It seems that each October there is more and more promotion for breast cancer awareness and pink ribbon products are hugely prevalent everywhere one goes… but I, personally, would just like to take the time right now to let everyone know that OCTOBER IS ALSO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH.

DID YOU KNOW?

• One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.
• Females who are at the age of 20-24 are at the greatest risk for intimate partner violence.
• One in six women and one in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape.
• One in 12 women and one in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime.
• An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year.
• The majority (73%) of family violence victims are female. Females were 84% of spousal abuse victims and 86% of abuse victims at the hands of a boyfriend.
• Almost one-third of female homicide victims that are reported in police records are killed by an intimate partner.
• Domestic Violence is one of the chronically most under reported crimes. Only approximately one-quarter of all physical assaults, one-fifth of all rapes and one-half of all stalkings perpetuated against females by intimate partners are reported to the police.
  

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

• WEAR A PURPLE RIBBON AND TELL PEOPLE WHY YOU DO. Purple is the color for Domestic Violence Awareness. Wear purple ribbons to bring national awareness to the issues faced by battered women, men and their children.

• DONATE A PHONE. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence has partnered with the Wireless Foundation for over 7 years through the CALL TO PROTECT program which was created to provide victims of Domestic Violence who may encounter emergency situations with free cells phones for that use. The collection of deactivated cell and wireless phones for this purpose has literally saved hundreds of lives over the course of the partnership. In addition to phones being distributed for emergency use, proceeds from the sale of phones not utilized for emergency use help fund agencies that work to end violence in the home, such as the NCADV. NCADV would greatly appreciate your old cell phone– CLICK HERE if you would like to donate your used wireless phone.

• DONATE A CAR. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence & 1-800-CHARITY CARS: if you would like to donate a vehicle and have 100% of the proceeds used to support the NCADV, please CLICK HERE to access the 1-800-CHARITY CARS website.