October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

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In 2012 SafePlace responded to 11,964 hotline calls and provided shelter to 861 adults and children. At any given time, approximately 60,000 Austinites are experiencing violence by an intimate partner.1 These issues of domestic violence are massive but they’re still very hidden and misunderstood. It’s time for a change. It is time to end the silence and shame. Many people think domestic violence doesn’t affect them. The chances are great however, that all of us know someone who has experienced domestic violence even if they haven’t told us about it.2 They’re the person you confide in most at work, the girl in your study group, the guy you play basketball with and your teenager’s best friend. We’d like to let you to know about a new overarching campaign to unify people, organizations, companies and communities around bringing an end to domestic violence. It is called NO MORE. The goal of NO MORE is to raise visibility for these issues, challenging the stigma that surrounds them, and taking the first step toward broader social change. We encourage you to check out the NO MORE Campaign online and also on Facebook.   There are many ways you can start spreading the word. You can tell us how you’re saying NO MORE in your own life here. You can add a photo to the “We Say NO MORE Photo Gallery” here. You can share the PSAs and other campaign materials with your friends and on your own social media accounts. We are saying NO MORE to domestic violence with this campaign and sharing it with everyone we know. We hope you will too.  If you have any questions please contact CommunityEd@safeplace.org. Thank you for joining us in saying NO MORE to domestic violence.   Sincerely, Amy Allen, Community Organizer SafePlace 1Busch- Armendariz, N., Heffron, L., Bohman, T.; Statewide Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence In Texas (2011), p.10-11 & p.36. 2Tjaden, Patricia & Thoennes, Nancy. National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, “Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey,” (2000).