Students at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas kicked off Domestic Violence Awareness Month this past Wednesday. Voices Against Violence, a program organized by the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center put together the event. Program coordinators, workers, and volunteers passed out 2,000 carnations attached to stories of Texans who died in 2008 because of domestic violence. An arch of purple balloons was set up on campus where students read aloud some of the stories, discussed warning signs of abusive relationship and gave spoken-word performances. Click here to read more about this amazing event.
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On September 30th, the National Domestic Violence Hotline answered its two millionth call. This milestone represents two million families that have received help and hope since the Hotline’s inception in 1996. This call came as the need for the Hotline continues to grow. During 2008, the call volume for the Hotline has increased by approximately 1,000 more calls per month.
The Hotline received over 230,000 calls in 2007 with its monthly call volume averaging over 19,500 calls. As the number of calls have climbed steadily in 2008, some months have seen a 10% to 15% increase over the same months the previous year. Answering this increased volume of calls places significant strain on the Hotline’s resources. Unfortunately, this results in a longer wait time for callers needing to get to safety, and a increased number of callers hanging up, both of which can be dangerous in violent situations. To address this issue the Hotline has increased volunteer recruitment for advocates. For more inforamtion about the huge milestone reached by the Hotline please visit www.ndvh.org!
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We keep getting alerts about youth driven Domestic Violence Awareness Month events across the country, and we wanted to give a few some attention here -
- The Women’s Center at University of Nebraska – Lincoln is hosting a Week Without Violence from Oct 13-18. Check out the full lineup of events – among them is the Clothesline Project. Students will create a t-shirt and hang them on a clothesline for display.
- New Canaan students got the word out with purple ribbons and purple awareness bracelets as part of an anti-bullying week.
October isn’t over people! There’s still time to do your own thing (and let us know about it).
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If you’ve got some old cell phones lying around the house, then you’ve go an easy way help survivors of domestic violence during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Call to Protect provides cell phones to survivors of domestic violence to ensure they have a way to reach help if they’re in danger. The cell phones that don’t go to survivors are refurbished and sold to benefit domestic violence causes.
So round up the extra phones in your house, and visit Call to Protect to find out how to donate. You may find a local drop off spot (like The Body Shop), but if not – you can mail them in. There’s also info on erasing your personal data from the phone before sending it off. And hey, it’s a great cause, but if you didn’t pay for the phone – check before donating.
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October is here. If you’re still looking for a way to get involved in Domestic Violence Awareness Month, consider adopting a local domestic violence shelter. Here’s how -
Contact your local domestic violence shelter (we can help you find it – just give us a call/chat). Ask what sort of donations they can use. Get some friends together (or do this as a class, club, etc.) and collect the items the shelter needs. Some examples of things a shelter might need are blankets, toiletries, clothing (for adults and kids), or cash. But be sure to call and talk to someone first – some shelters have limited storage space (if you show up with a truckload of dental floss, they probably won’t have a place to keep it.)
Let people know about your project and start collecting. Collect items for a week, or continue to collect during all of October. You can ask teachers to set up drop boxes in their classrooms, set up a table during lunches to collect items, or even go door to door in your neighborhood. Then deliver your donations to the shelter at the end of the month.
If you decide to try this or any other activity to commemorate DVAM, please let us know. We’d love to hear about it.
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