Domestic Violence Awareness Month

In the United States, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). The goal of DVAM is to create communities where everyone understands the signs of domestic violence, knows how to respond and get help, and shows unwavering support to survivors. We know that one month alone isn’t enough to solve the serious and widespread issue of domestic violence, but the attention DVAM generates is an opportunity to energize and expand awareness and prevention efforts throughout the rest of the year.

This October, join survivors, advocates, coalitions, and community members across the country who are all working toward something bigger than ourselves: ending domestic violence for good.

Each year, the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) leads a nationwide campaign for DVAM. This year’s theme is Every1KnowsSome1. #EveryoneKnowsSome1 strives to highlight how common domestic violence is and how we can all contribute to ending domestic violence.

More prevalent than most realize, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men will experience sexual violence, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime.¹ In 2023 alone, 6,131 new victims of domestic violence were served by 19 domestic violence/sexual assault advocacy centers across North Dakota.

Whether we’re aware of it or not, Every1KnowsSome1 who has experienced domestic violence.

October 17th is Purple Thursday

Join survivors and domestic violence advocates around the world by wearing purple, the color of domestic violence awareness, on October 17th. Wearing purple shows that you support survivors and are a safe person to talk to if they need to reach out. Share your purple photos online with #Every1KnowsSome1 and #DVAM.

Find more awareness events hosted by NDDSVC and our member organizations on our Awareness Events page.

Explore resources for advocates and supporters looking to participate in DVAM.

Learn

• Understand what domestic violence is and how abuse impacts victims
• Learn how to support someone experiencing abuse
• Understand the DVAM 2024 theme: Every1KnowsSome1
• View the latest statistics on domestic violence in North Dakota
• View the North Dakota Summary from NNEDV’s 2023 DV Counts Report to see a snapshot of the services provided by North Dakota domestic violence/sexual assault advocacy centers in a single 24-hour period

Connect

• Attend a DVAM Event
• Use our Event Guide to plan your own DVAM event (members only)
• Hand out brochures or other information about DV at businesses, trainings, or events (brochures can be found on our Resources page)
• Hang up DVAM flyers in your community (members only)
• Ask local businesses, schools, churches, or government buildings to shine purple lights in their windows in support of DVAM
• Send a press release about DVAM to a local news outlet (members only)
• Personalize and send a letter to the editor about DVAM (members only)
• Ask your mayor to proclaim October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month (members only)

Share

• Use our Social Media Guide to promote DVAM and your organization’s services (members only)
• Post about DVAM or share DVAM social media posts from NDDSVC and our member organizations
• Add the Every1KnowsSome1 Facebook banner to your page
• Add our DVAM email signature graphic to your signature
• Use the ‘I wear purple for…’ printouts to share why you’ll be wearing purple on #PurpleThursday
• Share your DVAM celebrations! Use #DVAM and #EveryKnowsSome1 when posting online

Reflect

• Take our DVAM 2024 Toolkit Survey and let us know how we can improve future DVAM campaigns (members only)
• Honor DVAM champions with a Certificate of Appreciation

Sources:

1. Smith, S.G., Zhang, X., Basile, K.C., Merrick, M.T., Wang, J., Kresnow, M., Chen, J. (2018). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2015 Data Brief – Updated Release. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)