What Can You Do?Individual Action
• Give time or money to a local shelter. • Ask your doctor to talk to patients about domestic violence. • Call your local domestic violence agency to learn the warning signs of abuse and how to support a friend. • Ask businesses, your place of worship, and community centers to put brochures with domestic violence resources in private places, such as women's restrooms. • Learn about domestic violence: • Collect school supplies, food, diapers, or other items for a local shelter. Call the shelter first to find out what they need. • Spread the word that domestic violence is not okay. Challenge behavior and language that encourages violence. • Teach your children to be nonviolent; read them books and buy them toys that support gender equality and nonviolence. • Call the police if you hear screaming or violence from a neighboring apartment or house. • Call your local agency for support and information if you have concerns about a current or former relationship. Neighborhood • Invite someone from a local domestic violence agency to speak to your community group. • Get to know your neighbors and your children's friends. Offer kindness and support to those hurt by domestic violence. • Ask your girls and boys clubs, including scout troops, to discuss domestic and dating violence. • Plant purple flowers in your garden or at your P-patch with a sign that says "Stop Domestic Violence." • Wear T-shirts or buttons that advocate for nonviolence. • Hang posters and display brochures about domestic violence at businesses in your neighborhood. Love Shouldn't Hurt brochures and posters are available from KCCADV. • Choose books about domestic violence for your book club. Contact your local library for a domestic violence reading list. • Sponsor a family through your local shelter, giving food and personal care items to women and families. Faith Action • Call the national religious Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence at 206-634-1903 or visit www.cpsdv.org for ideas you can use in your church, synagogue, mosque, or temple. • Request that films and books such as Keeping the Faith are available for your members. (Call the Center at 206-634-1903 for them.) • Use information from your local domestic violence agency in sermons, bulletins, services, and newsletters for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. • Recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month at your company-call your local agency for ideas about how your company can partner with them. • Support training on domestic violence for all clergy, hospital chaplains, and seminary students. • Offer a meeting space to a local agency for educational meetings or support groups. • Encourage your faith organization-at both local and national levels-to address domestic violence so that all victims will be safe when confiding in their religious leaders. Legislative Action • Encourage your legislators to support laws that address domestic violence. (Call KCCADV at 206-568-5454 to learn about current local, state, and national issues.) • Advocate for a fair and effective criminal justice response in your community. Call KCCADV at 206-568-5454 to find out how to get involved. • Encourage your city and county councilmembers to support policies that benefit victims of domestic violence, hold abusers accountable, and teach people about domestic violence. • Vote for judges whose records show that they are are sensitive to victims and take domestic violence seriously. • Support federal legislation that strengthens domestic violence laws and provides funding for victim services. School Action • Challenge behavior that encourages stereotypes and violence-for example, sexism, racism, and homophobia. • Work with your PTSA to establish effective policies dealing with domestic and dating violence incidents in school. • Request that speakers on domestic violence talk to classes in your school. • Display books and materials on teen dating violence in the library and counseling center. • Display the Silent Witness exhibit in a class about legal issues. Call EDVP at 425-562-8840 to reserve the exhibit. • Participate in a peer education program or support group; ask your school counselor to work with a local domestic violence agency to start a group in your school. • Encourage campus security to have a domestic violence protocol. • Organize students to collect books, toys, or school supplies for children staying at local domestic violence shelters. Call your local shelters to find out what they need. • Display domestic violence brochures at your school's resource center and at evening events (parents' nights, sports events, etc.) AdvocacyAdvocacy/Public Policy
Advocacy involves being informed about related issues and sharing that information with people or organizations that make important decisions affecting the subject. The first step is to become informed. Explore our web site, learn about domestic violence and join us in our efforts to promote strong, healthy relationships. The second step is to share what you have learned. And one of the most important things you can do is contact your legislators at the city, state, and federal levels to stress how important the topic of domestic violence is and how we must work to change policy and attitudes about it. Domestic violence affects us all and each and every one of us must get involved; we must break the silence if we are going break the cycle of violence. Contacting Legislators Legislative action is an important part of the movement to end domestic violence. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) has put together a comprehensive manual that contains a guide to the legislative process and the Federal Government, sample letters, tips for scheduling congressional visits, recommendations on community organizing activities, and more. Find Your Representative and Senators Find Your US Senator Find Your US Representative Contacting the President Contact President Obama or President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 |
Community OrgainizingEvery community is different and has individual needs. In order to develop an effective strategy against domestic violence, it is necessary to establish a community profile. The following is a step-by-step guide for doing this.
Know Your Players Find out what is currently available in your community, who is available to help and establish or renew contacts with these individuals and organizations. domestic violence service agencies domestic violence coalitions family services/public assistance agencies women’s health centers human rights/women’s rights groups medical authorities government offices legal authorities law enforcement legislators. Know the Problem The goals of conducting a domestic violence needs assessment are to: establish an overview of the prevalence of domestic violence in the community; determine whether the community takes a proactive stance on domestic violence issues; find out if the community is equipped to handle existing domestic violence problems; determine areas for action. Develop an Action Strategy If there is access to existing domestic violence organizations and programs, there may be excellent resources. Much can be learned about domestic violence issues and strategies through collaboration with existing organizations and programs. Collaboration allows individuals and organizations to become involved with a minimal investment of development time by drawing on others’ experience. It also prevents duplication of efforts and contributes to a united front in the fight against domestic violence. Existing organizations can often help with planning and implementing a successful project.
Raising Awareness Some people wonder why - after all these years - we still need to raise awareness about a crime so prevalent and notorious; its aftermath so unavoidable.
Yes, for the most part, we all seem to know that violence is occurring behind closed doors of homes in every corner of our communities and our country. Where we falter, and often fail, is in knowing what we can do personally and collectively to help those families living with the violence and dying at the hands of those they once loved and trusted. Attend Events to Raise Awareness about Domestic Violence
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