#DVAM2020 Recap
We have just wrapped up Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2020, but at Safe Harbor, we are always raising awareness about domestic violence.
This year we took an intersectional approach to our awareness campaign by focusing on five issues that intersect with domestic violence (DV.) These issues are: how youth experience DV, barriers faced by women of color, barriers faced by the LGBTQ+ community, the lethal combination of guns and DV, and the correlation between housing and DV.
These issues do not exist independently, but rather, compound and can make it more difficult for people experiencing domestic violence to find help.
- 1 in 3 teenagers report knowing a friend or peer who has been physically hurt on purpose by their partner.
- Black women are 3x more likely to be killed by a man than White women, and 48% of Latinas reported abuse from their partners increased when they immigrated to the US.
- WIthin the LGBTQ+ community, intimate partner violence occurs at a rate equal to or even higher than that of the heterosexual community.
- An abuser’s access to a firearm increases the risk of femicide by at least 400%.
- Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness for women and their children.
Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the pervasiveness of domestic violence. With 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men reporting physical abuse from their partners in the US, and South Carolina ranking #11 in the nation for women killed by men, we must work together to end domestic violence for all people. And to end domestic violence for all people, we must discuss all the barriers faced by those experiencing abuse.
