The Big Picture: Domestic Violence Awareness Month Vigil

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Domestic Violence Awareness Month Vigil

Tonight in Decatur, Georgia, Women's Resource Center to End Domestic Violence will be holding our Candlelight Vigil to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If you cannot attend, we hope you will light a candle around dusk and take a moment of silence for the hundreds of women, children, and men across the country who lost their lives in domestic violence homicides. When you hear domestic violence statistics, remember that behind each number is a human being and a family who was forever changed by violence.

1 comment:

Joy said...: For years I've been unable to donate or to volunteer for WRC, yet my gratitutde for services rendered has never diminished. I am thrilled for Ayonna Johnson's honor of receiving the Deborah C. McDorman Flame Award. Hers was among the first faces I met when WRC "rescued" me from a scary situation years ago. I continue to be grateful and to support you all in any way I can, even if it just with my prayers and thanks!; October 25, 2011 at 9:56 AM

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Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is the establishment of control and fear in a relationship through physical, sexual, emotional, and/or financial abuse. Both men and women are capable of misusing power and perpetrating violence, and male victims are often just as afraid to call the police. More resources for female survivors exist, however, because overwhelmingly women and children suffer the most severe consequences (medical, legal, social, and financial) and therefore require the most intensive interventions.

Many women choose to stay in abusive relationships because they do not want their relationship to end...just the violence. Women often remain in, or return to, abusive relationships because their partners threaten to harm them and their loved ones if they attempt to leave. Commonly, women choose to leave when they become convinced that their life is at risk, or that their children are in danger.

Domestic violence is not just a "family matter". The violence will not stop until men and women come together with a common attitude of non-tolerance. We must speak out for those who may not feel safe speaking up, and our children must learn through our words and example that violence is never justified.