Family Violence is a Community Issue!
Does your community condemn or perpetuate abusive behavior?
What messages do you send about your attitudes toward family violence?
- Do you encourage your community to monitor their children's exposure to violence?
- Do you screen for abuse during counseling?
- Have you made it clear to your community that you do not condone any form of abuse?
- If a batterer/perpetrator is a respected community member, do you disregard the allegations of abuse?
YOU can show leadership and work towards fostering safe homes by acknowledging that family violence is a problem, by promoting abuser accountability, and supporting victims.
What is Family Violence?
Family violence affects married and unmarried partners, fathers and mothers, children and siblings, grandparents and grandchildren. Family violence occurs in many different forms, including physical violence and sexual abuse, threats of violence, intimidation, emotional or psychological abuse, neglect, economic control or spiritual abuse.
Recognize the Signs: to name a few...
- Physical symptoms like bruises, change in dress (to long sleeves or higher collars).
- Emotional changes like mood swings, change in appetite, lack of excitement or excessive crying.
- Social Symptoms like withdrawn behavior, change in social and community involvement, constantly haveing to check in with someone.
- For children and teens, reverting to an earlier stage or becoming islated from friends.
Sixteen Years of the Violence Against Women Act (9/22/2010)
Since 1994, VAWA has sent 4 billion dollars to states and local communities to develop specialized law enforcement units, provide services to victims, improve prosecution of these crimes, and train professionals about domestic violence and sexual assault. In many ways, VAWA has been successful. Since the passage of the Act, domestic violence has dropped by 58%.
In spite of all this progress, we still have much work to do. Three women still die every day at the hands of husbands or boyfriends. Domestic violence causes two million injuries a year and untold amounts of human suffering. Domestic violence shelters are still full, hotlines are ringing, and for every victim who has come forward, many more are suffering alone.
Even more alarming, young women between the ages of 16-24 have the highest rates of relationship violence, and one in five women will be sexually assaulted while they are in college. We must focus on changing attitudes of our young people so that violence against women is not acceptable.
Donate Your Old Cell Phone
The simple act of donating a cell phone has far reaching benefits for victims of domestic violence and literally helps save hundreds of lives.
While many donated phones become direct lifelines that enable battered women to connect in times of need, funds from processing donated phones do much, much more.
Donating your phone enables the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence to pay for programs that provide education and career guidance, support and referrals for victims, technical assistance to emergency shelters and programs throughout the U.S. and other innovative programs that address the special needs of battered women across all racial, religious and economic groups. Click on the link below to print a free mailing label anytime during 2010:
By donating a cell phone, you are helping to make every home a safe home. For more information, call Rabbi Diana Gerson at 212.983.3532 or e-mail email@example.com.
"Paint It Purple" campaign
Join the "Paint It Purple" campaign in aid of the cause to end violence against women worldwide
The Pixel Project (http://www.thepixelproject.net) is proud to present our “Paint It Purple” campaign - a global campaign held throughout October 2010 to leverage the U.S.’s National Domestic Violence Awareness Month to spread awareness about Domestic Violence (DV) and other forms of Violence Againt Women (VAW) in communities worldwide.
1. Raise awareness about DV and all forms of VAW by recording public service announcements from all party participants to grow a global YouTube chorus calling for an end to VAW.
2. Jointly raise funds for their chosen VAW/DV charity and The Pixel Project through the biggest charity cupcake bake sale of 2010 in aid of the VAW cause.
All participants in “Paint It Purple” will each be counted as an “action” towards helping UNIFEM’s “Say NO – UNiTE” campaign’s bid to raise 1 million grassroots actions against VAW by November 2010.
There are 3 types of "Paint It Purple" parties:
1. Official Parties - Held by VAW non profits worldwide throughout October to raise funds and record PSAs calling for an end to violence against women on The Pixel Project's "Wall of Support" http://www.thepixelproject.net/community-buzz/wall-of-support/.
We currently have parties confirmed for Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, Cardiff, Denver and Austin with more parties due to be confirmed in Cairo, Washington DC, New York City, London and Singapore.
2. Private Parties - Held by cause supporters with their families and friends throughout October to eat cupcakes and record PSAs calling for an end to violence against women worldwide.
3. A virtual blog party (2 October 2010) for bloggers to showcase their PSAs, share their baking skills with cupcakes and cupcake recipes and share thoughts on violence against women.