IT IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH and time to take a bit of time to focus on a struggle that is waged every day, in every city, in every town with very real consequences for our entire world, and yet is alloted hardly the finances and attention and energy that the battle requires. After all, helping the world become a place that loves mujeres as much as they provide love for our world is a lifelong job—and all of our jobs.
WRITING NOW to note Domestic Violence Awareness Month. A small window of time like Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian Pacific American History Month, Black History Month and other times when we take an important issue/idea and focus in order to keep the conversation alive, and in hopes of deepening the numbers involved in, and the success of, la lucha.
Before and beyond this month, I continue to write on domestic violence and violence against women—not to hold myself up as some self-styled “Champion of Women” as someone ungenerously accused me of recently. (I don’t even claim to be an “Activist®” much less take on such grand mantles!) I write on this only because these things move me deeply and have most of my life in one form or another. Helping the world become a place that loves mujeres as much as they provide love for our world is a lifelong job, and all of our jobs. I admit immediately that I wasn’t always aware of this. But we change if we want, and we don’t even need elections to do so.
On that tip, here is Senator Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s statement (emphasis mine):
Chicago, IL — “Today, I join all Americans in observing Domestic Violence Awareness Month. At a time when one in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, it’s more important than ever that we dedicate ourselves to working on behalf of the thousands of women who suffer in silence.
“Too often, victims of domestic violence don’t know where to turn, or have no one to turn to. And too often, a victim could be someone you love. That’s why, as a State Senator, I led the fight in Illinois to pass one of the strongest employment protection laws in the nation, ensuring that victims of domestic violence could seek shelter or treatment without losing their jobs.That’s why I introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to provide $25 million a year to domestic violence prevention and victim support efforts. That’s why I co-sponsored and helped reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. And today, I am so proud to have Senator Joe Biden, the man who wrote that groundbreaking legislation that gave so many women a second chance at life, as my running mate in this campaign.
“As President, I’ll make these efforts a national priority. This month, and every month, we must fight to bring domestic violence out of the darkness of isolation and into the light of justice, especially for minority and immigrant women, and women in every community where it goes unreported far too often. We’ll stop treating this as just a woman’s issue, and start recognizing that when a woman is attacked, that abuse scars not only the victim, but her loved ones, sending currents of violence that ripple across our society. We need all hands on deck to address this neighbors willing to report suspected crimes, families willing to help loved ones seek treatment, and community leaders willing to candidly discuss this issue in public and break the stigma that stops so many women from coming forward. Together, we’ll make it clear that no woman ever struggles alone.”
—Statement of Senator Barack Obama on Domestic Violence Awareness Month
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Thank you for this. I’m a domestic violence educator and we need all the help we can get spreading the word about the pandemic of family violence! I’m a new reader of your blog and I’m a big fan. Keep it up!
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