Do you know what month it is?

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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic Violence affects men, women, and children, in heterosexual and homosexual relationships, from all walks of life in the form of stalking, verbal, sexual, physical, psychological, and financial abuse. You do not have to be married to, or even living with, your abuser to gain protection from the police or courts because all 50 states and all US protectorates, as well as Canada, and most Nations in Europe, now acknowledge Intimate Partner violence which even includes former partners. Illegal immigrants are also protected, and needn't fear deportation if they're facing abuse and violence. A person can simply google DV and find many many different resources available if they or a friend are a victim of family violence.

Here are some sad statistics:

• 3 women are murdered by a partner or former partner everyday
  
• Marital rape accounts for 1/4 of all rapes annually
  
• As many as 10 Million Children witness acts of domestic violence every year
  
• These crimes are about power, not temper or sex, and the use of alienation, fear, and shame have made too many silent victims. It takes friends, family and neighbors to help break the cycle of violence.

Links:
US Dept. of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Family Violence Prevention Fund (endabuse.org)
State-by-State Legal Information and Resources (womenslaw.org)
Community Coalition Against Family Violence (theresnoexcuse.com)

October is ALSO Breast Cancer Awareness Month- So if you have a mother, sister, aunt, daughter, or friend wear a pink or purple ribbon for them.