It is widely known that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, however, it is less known that October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Both causes promote the safety and well being of women, which is great, but one is talked about a lot less than the other.
Domestic violence has been seen as a taboo subject for many years, and that stigma still prevails. Yet domestic violence affects one in every three women and breast cancer affects one in every five, therefore, you are more likely to know someone affected by abuse than someone affected by breast cancer.
There’s a reason NFL players wear pink shoelaces and pink gloves, not purple. While breast cancer is extremely important and a huge cause of death for women, domestic violence is an even larger cause of death. And let’s be honest, without cute slogans about “saving ta-tas” or “fighting for boobies” people do not want to talk about it.
There is an epidemic of violence against women. Emotional abuse is just as painful and actually harder to recover from as physical abuse. And part of the problem is that when a woman finally feels secure enough to open up about her abuse in most cases she told that she can not being telling the truth, or that they are sure it was a misunderstanding, give it time, it’ll work itself out. Some even seek therapy, which is the most dangerous option; because she is completely unsafe once she leaves that office with her abuser who now has more ammo to be angry with her about.
It’s shocking to most that there was once a time in this country when it was legal for a man to beat his wife. What is even more shocking is that so many men still do.
The purple ribbon is the symbol of domestic violence. Wear purple this October, and every October, to show those women who are too afraid to flee from their abusers that you support them. Wear purple to show that you are not afraid to talk about the biggest cause of death towards women. Wear purple for all the women who have been lost due to domestic violence. And wear purple to prevent the world from losing any more.
