Domestic Violence Awareness Month is under way

About Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Throughout October, shelters, advocacy groups, police departments, hospitals and schools hold vigils, trainings and fundraisers focused on abuse by partners and family members. The CDC describes intimate partner violence as including physical violence, sexual violence, stalking and psychological aggression, so the month draws attention to controlling and threatening behavior as well as physical harm. Purple is the color most associated with the campaign.

The observance began with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which organized a Day of Unity in October 1981 to connect advocates across the country who were working to end violence against women and their children. The day soon grew into a week of local, state and national events built around three themes: mourning those who had died, celebrating survivors, and connecting the people working to end the violence. The first full Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed in October 1987.

Congress gave it national standing two years later. Public Law 101-112, approved on October 6, 1989, designated October 1989 as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and asked the president to call on Americans to learn about domestic violence and support those working to end it. Presidents have issued October proclamations in many years since.

Help is available around the clock. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is free and confidential: call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text START to 88788, or chat through thehotline.org. Anyone in immediate danger should call 911.

Sources: National Indigenous Women's Resource Center: Domestic Violence Awareness Month 30th Anniversary, Congress.gov: Public Law 101-112 (1989), National Domestic Violence Hotline, CDC: About Intimate Partner Violence. How we check dates.

How to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month

• Save the National Domestic Violence Hotline number, 1-800-799-7233, in your phone so you can share it quickly if someone needs it.
• Learn common warning signs of abuse, such as a partner tracking someone's phone, cutting them off from friends or controlling their money.
• Call a local domestic violence shelter to ask what it needs, then donate items such as toiletries, gift cards or phone chargers.
• Wear purple during October and use the conversations it starts to share hotline information.
• If someone confides in you, listen, believe them, and let them decide their next steps rather than pushing them to leave right away.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month dates