1
in 3 young people experience dating abuse
3 women are murdered by an intimate partner every
day in America!
4.8 million American women
are physically assaulted every year!
Violence
against women has long been a widespread but little known epidemic affecting local,
national and international communities alike. But now people like you and me are
speaking out about this serious issue, and by raising awareness, are helping to
stop violence against women.
To
help states, municipalities, agencies and individuals
further the goals of the Violence Against Women
Act, the US Department of Justice's Office
of Violence Against Women has worked with Congress
and the President to establish months designated
to raise awareness about the four crimes included
in the bill: January is
Stalking Awareness Month; February
is Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention
Month;
April
is Sexual Assault Awareness Month;
and October
is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Domestic
Violence Awareness Month has been observed for
years. 2010's Senate Resolution for Teen Dating
Violence Awareness & Prevention Month, and the
widespread observance by states and municipalities
helped raise attention about violence against
women to a whole new level. At least 48 Governors
and nearly 1000 municipalities declared proclamations
last year, providing inspiration and opportunities
for bringing communities together to address this
serious issue. (At
least 27 Governors and over 200 municipalities
in 45 states declared proclamations
and resolutions for February's Dating Violence
Awareness Month; over 200
proclamations were again declared for April's
Sexual Assault Awareness Month;
at least 35 Governors
and 450 municipalities declared proclamations
for October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month.)
I
learned about violence against women the hard way - my 19 year old daughter Emily
was murdered by her ex-boyfriend on April 9, 2009. Please help lead the way to
ending violence against women by raising YOUR voice against violence against women.
There
are many things that YOU
can do to help raise awareness about dating abuse
and violence against women. Here are some ideas:
|
1)
Write to your Mayor and Governor and ask
them to join other leaders across the nation
in declaring a proclamation for one of the
4 awareness months. In most cases, all it
takes is a school or nonprofit organization
to request it and provide a sample proclamation!
(Please ask them to send a copy to The EMILY
Fund, PO Box 430, Roosevelt, NJ 08555-0430,
or send a scan to info@emilyfund.org
or fax to: 1-888-247-1291 so that it can
be posted on the Internet to inspire other
communities to do the same.)
| |
2)
If your town or state has declared a proclamation,
let your local newspaper know about it and why
dating violence awareness is important.
3)
Wear a heart
on your sleeve (print out free designs at the
Have
a Heart Campaign
website)
or a purple ribbon (or teal ribbon for Sexual
Assault Awareness Month) and
when people ask you about it, let them know why
dating violence awareness and preventing violence
against women is important to you.
4)
Create or print out posters about ending violence against women to display at
school or around your community.
5)
Participate in the National Dating Pledge Challenge
to Stop Dating Violence - hand out FREE Dating
Pledge cards.
6)
Set up a table on campus or during lunch to hand
out Dating Pledge cards and other educational
materials about dating abuse and dating violence.
7)
Urge your school to establish a Dating
Violence Policy
if there isn't one already in place.
8)
Urge your school to establish a year-round Dating
Violence Awareness education program (Download
FREE Love Is Not Abuse Dating Violence curriculum).
9)
Find out more about the Lindsay
Ann Burke Act requiring schools to provide
dating violence awareness resources to all students.
At least 6 states have already passed bills -
has yours?
10)
Participate in a Healthy Relationship Peer Education
Program, or if there isn't one at your school,
work with your school or a local domestic violence
agency to establish one.
11)
Find out more:
*
The National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline:
LoveIsRespect.org
*
MADE: Moms And Dads for Education to Stop Teen
Dating Abuse: Loveisnotabuse.com/made
*
Break The Cycle: BreakTheCycle.org
*
Choose Respect: ChooseRespect.org
*
Dating Abuse Stops Here : DatingAbuseStopsHere.org
*
Demi Brae Cuccia Awareness Organization: DemiBrae.com
*
Give Respect (Family Violence Prevention Fund):
GiveRespect.org
*
Jennifer Ann's Group: JenniferAnn.org
*
Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund: labmf.org
*
Love Is Not Abuse: LoveIsNotAbuse.com
*
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (List
of State Coalitions): ncadv.org/resources/StateCoalitionList.php
*
National Domestic Violence Hotline: ndvh.org
*
National Sexual Violence Resource Center: nsvrc.org
*
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network: rainn.org
*
SAFE & RESPECTFUL Relationships For All: SafeAndRespectful.org
