Barack Obama declares October as National domestic violence awareness month.

For the past couple of months I have been the worst blogger ever. I guess it has been a combination of feeling horrible all the time and not really having anything interesting to share. This may not seem that interesting to you, but this is something that I am passionate about. For almost the past year I have been volunteering on a weekly basis at a local shelter for women and children who have experienced any form of domestic violence including: physical, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse. During that time I have met people who have been through some of the MOST HORRIFIC things I have ever heard, I have seen victims break the cycle of abuse, and I have met some of the most amazing people. It has been such a rewarding experience for me. I have come to understand more and open my eyes to abuse. Domestic violence will affect 25% of American women in some way throughout their lives. That means that about 1 in every 4 women you encounter will at some point experience a serious form of abuse. This breaks my heart! 50% of all children in a home where a mother is being abused will also suffer from abuse. Abuse is found in every social class, race, religion, etc... No group of people are exempt.
I commend Barack Obama for bringing attention to this matter. This is a serious and ongoing problem, but there is hope! We can all do our part to SEE and STOP abuse. We can also research the laws surrounding abuse in our communities and do our part to let our government leaders know how we feel about it. If you know someone who is suffering from abuse please let them know that there is help out there. There are programs that will give a woman and her children a place to live, food to eat, and give the woman resources to help her get on and stay on her feet financially and emotionally. Even if we are not the ones being abused we are all affected by it in one way or another. Let's try to break this cycle, even if it is only one victim at a time!

Here is a link to the official declaration: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office
/Presidential-Proclamation-National-Domestic-Violence-Awareness-Month/


For some more disturbing statistics about domestic violence check this out: http://www.ncadv.org/files/DomesticViolenceFactSheet(National).pdf