This month is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and there are so many ways to bring more attention and support to this ongoing crisis in our communities and the world. Currently in the United States, as many 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men experience some form of abuse yet people rarely talk about what is happening or has happened in a homes on your street.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline has a great campaign going on right now called How I #SeeDV
You can participate by sharing how you see the effects of domestic violence in your life, your community, your workplace, or the world:
- Share your story — Do you have a blog? Write about your own thoughts around domestic violence. Or tell your story by word-of-mouth to friends.
- Make it social — Tweet, Facebook, Instagram about the campaign, sharing your perspective on domestic violence. Use the #SeeDV hashtag on your images or posts.
- Give your story life — Create a video around the campaign, whether by Vine, Instagram or YouTube.
- Connect with us — Follow The National Domestic Violence Hotline on Facebook and Twitter, tag us in your social media posts, sign the 3 Minutes for 3 Million pledge and keep visiting thehotline.org.
- Host a phone drive — Support HopeLine from Verizon and collect no-longer-used phones in your community
Pets can be a reason a person won't leave an abusive situation. See a victim's challenges. #SeeDV pic.twitter.com/tMpIVO9c26
— Natl DV Hotline (@NDVH) October 10, 2013
This tweet stood out to me because one of the earliest ways I got involved in supporting domestic violence survivors was by training to foster animals of domestic violence victims at my local shelter. Many abusers threaten to harm or kill pets, and most shelters cannot take animals so I volunteered my home to foster them so victims could escape while keeping all of their family safe.
While you are sharing your experiences with How I #SeeDV, don't forget to also support our local Richmond shelters like Safe Harbor, which offers support and guidance to fellow Richmonders surviving violence as well as their friends and family members who are assisting them. Safe Harbor is available 24/7 through their confidential helpline (804-287-7877) or you can visit their website: SafeHarborShelter.com.
You can also assist Safe Harbor by donating or volunteering. Safe Harbor is supporting Domestic Violence Awareness Month in a variety of ways including their annual Hot Healthy Love series, which highlights couples in healthy relationships by telling their love stories, because Safe Harbor envisions Richmond full of healthy relationships for everyone. Nominate your favorite couple today.
Disclaimer: I'm grateful to Richmondmom for providing this space to support the National Domestic Violence Hotline and Safe Harbor this month. They nor I was compensated by these entities.
