What Domestic Violence Awareness Month Really Means
Domestic Violence Awareness Month has been around since 1989, when Congress officially designated October for this cause. But the movement started way before that. Back in July 1978, nearly 100,000 people marched on the Capitol in Washington demanding equal rights. A lot of the women there—survivors of domestic abuse, though back then people called them "battered women"—were wearing purple.
Purple stuck. It became the color of the movement, an evolution of the lavender that women's rights activists had been wearing for decades. Lavender was seen as the color of royalty, so purple felt like a natural choice for Domestic Awareness Month.
A Movement That Dates Back To 1981
The first awareness campaign happened in October 1981. Just a Tuesday at first, then it grew to a week, and eventually the whole month. By October 1987, the country had its first free national domestic violence hotline running. More survivors started reaching out for help because people were finally talking about it.
And that's the whole point of awareness months, really. They force the conversation. The media covers it. Events get planned. Fundraisers happen. People who might otherwise stay silent realize they're not alone.
Esta Soler, who founded what's now called Futures Without Violence, said that when she started working on this issue in the 1980s, "people were not concerned about the issue of domestic violence. It wasn't even on the back page of the newspaper."
Now? Everyone knows it's a problem. That doesn't mean it's solved, but at least it's acknowledged. Shelters exist. Hotlines exist. Laws exist. Progress has been made, even if there's a long way to go.
The Statistics Are Horrifying
Globally, about 27 percent of women between 15 and 49 have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner at some point in their lives, according to the World Health Organization. In the U.S., more than one in three women and more than one in four men have dealt with rape, physical violence, or stalking by a partner.
Women between 20 and 24 are at the highest risk. And homicide is one of the leading causes of death for women under 44, with nearly half of those victims killed by a current or former partner. That's 2,000 to 3,000 women a year.
And those are just the reported cases. Domestic violence is massively underreported. People don't call the police or seek help because they're scared of retaliation, don't trust the system, or face a dozen other barriers. Then there's all the abuse that doesn't leave physical marks—emotional, verbal, financial. Hard to quantify, but very real.
Why Domestic Awareness Month Matters
So, what's the point of dedicating a whole month to this if the problem's still so widespread? Because attention matters. It gets people talking. It raises money. It reminds survivors they're not alone and that help exists.
If you want to actually do something during October beyond just knowing it's Domestic Violence Awareness Month, there are options.
Wear purple. Post about it. Use hashtags like #PurpleThursday and #DVAM. Sounds small, but visibility counts.
Donate to a local shelter. They're almost always operating on tight budgets and need everything from pillows to toys for kids. You can find wish lists online and send stuff directly.
Attend an event. Lots of organizations host walks, vigils, fundraisers. Show up.
Talk about it. Share articles. Bring it up at dinner. Ask people if they've ever known a survivor. Sometimes just breaking the silence helps. Don't pressure anyone to share their story, but create space for it if they want to.
Advocate for better laws. There are bills sitting in legislatures right now that could make a difference for survivors. Call your lawmakers. It's easier than you think.
Volunteer. Shelters need people. You don't have to be a survivor yourself to help. There are online trainings you can take to become an advocate.
Host a fundraiser at work. Get a local restaurant to donate a percentage of their profits one night. Organize a 5K or a backyard barbeque and donate the proceeds.
Read up on it. There are books, podcasts, toolkits that explain what emotional abuse looks like, what financial abuse is, how trauma bonding works. The more you understand, the better equipped you are to help someone who needs it.
Awareness months aren't perfect. They're not going to solve domestic violence. But they keep the conversation going. And as long as the problem exists, the conversation needs to keep happening.
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