AWARENESS MONTH

Semah Report

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month which provides an important opportunity to refocus our nation's efforts on the prevention of Domestic Violence. One in four women in America will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. However, domestic violence is not limited to women, nor is it primarily a women's problem. Domestic violence is a societal issue, occurs in all societies across the board, and is generally a learned behavior. Awareness is the first step in working towards eradicating this common scourge.

Cal Victim Compensation and Government Clsaims Board (CalVCP) observes Domestic Violence Awareness Month in hopes of helping victims through their pain and moving forward in the fight to eradicate domestic violence from our world. Join us in spreading awareness, helping survivors, and doing everything possible to stop violence before it begins.

The Violence Policy Center (VPC), a national organization working to end gun deaths released a study on this occasion saying that African-American women are at far greater risk of experiencing one of the most egregious forms of domestic violence than other groups. The study found that black women are about three times more likely to die at the hands of a current or ex-partner than members of other racial backgrounds. The VPC reported that 94 percent of the black women killed knew their killers. More than half were killed by gunfire. And 64 percent of black victims who knew their offenders were wives, ex-wives, or girlfriends of the killers.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) observes Domestic Violence Awareness Month to connect battered women's advocates across the nation who were working to end violence against women and their children. In October 1987, the first Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed. That same year, the first national toll-free hotline was begun. In 1989 the first Domestic Violence Awareness Month Commemorative Legislation was passed by the U.S. Congress. Such legislation has passed every year since, with NCADV providing key leadership in this effort.

According to Safe Horizon organization:

One in 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime.
Women experience more than 4 million physical assaults and rapes because of their partners, and men are victims of nearly 3 million physical assaults.
Women are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than men
Women ages 20 to 24 are at the greatest risk of becoming victims of domestic violence.
Every year, 1 in 3 women who is a victim of homicide is murdered by her current or former partner.