Education is a crucial tool in empowering individuals and families to be a part of the work in ending gendered and interpersonal violence. As we continue to provide crisis intervention services, we also look towards methods of preventing the violence from happening altogether. There are three awareness months in particular for which we offer special workshops, training, and campaigns both online and in person.

Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center also honors a variety of awareness months throughout the year on social media, especially in regards to political justice around racism, ableism, transphobia, reproductive oppression, and other forms of violence which are inherently connected to gendered violence.

February

Teen Dating Violence
Awareness Month

the orange ribbon | #TDVAM

• About 1 in 5 women and nearly 1 in 7 men who ever experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, first experienced some form of partner violence between 11 and 17 years of age.

• Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.

• One in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.

• One in 10 high school students has been purposefully hit, slapped or physically hurt by a dating partner.

April

Child Abuse
Prevention Month

the blue pinwheel | #CAPM

• Child abuse and neglect is more likely in homes that also have domestic violence between the parents.

• Child abuse reports involved 7.8 million children.

• Annual estimate: 1,770 children died from abuse and neglect in 2018.

• Child abuse crosses all socioeconomic and educational levels, religions, ethnic and cultural groups.

• More than half (51%) of adults who were abused as children experienced domestic abuse in later life (Office of National Statistics, UK)

• The single best predictor of children becoming either perpetrators or victims of domestic violence later in life is whether or not they grow up in a home where there is domestic violence (UNICEF).

October

Domestic Violence
Awareness Month

the purple ribbon | #DVAM

• Domestic violence does not have to be physical or sexual to be abuse; it can manifest in a wide variety of controlling tactics.

• Nearly half of all women and men in the United States have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime (48.4% and 48.8%, respectively)

• More than 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and more than 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

• Nearly two in three corporate executives (63%) say that domestic violence is a major problem in our society and more than half (55%) cite its harmful impact on productivity in their companies.

You can be part of change!

Something that everyone can do:

• Follow and engage with our awareness campaigns on social media (Facebook, Instagram), which regularly offer resources and more in-depth information

• Write out a message about why you support Walnut Avenue, then take a photo of yourself holding the sign and post it to social media. Tag us @walnutavenue_center on IG or @WalnutAvenueWomensCenter on FB so we can share it too!

• Host one of our workshops or presentations with your friends or family and learn the skills of an effective ally to a loved one experiencing harm (info here)

• Volunteer, either individually or with a group, in one of our programs - more info at “Volunteer” and “Internships & Training”!

• Consider how you can be an active participant in your local mutual aid networks

For businesses:

• Ask our community engagement coordinator for a media kit with ideas on how you can incorporate into your business’ own social media!

• Host one of our Clothesline Projects on a wall at your workplace, in a waiting room, a public lobby, or any other group space

• Host one of our presentations on recognizing domestic violence happening in the workplace and your rights

• Become a donor whose generosity helps us continue serving families in Santa Cruz County

For schools:

• Host one of our evidence-based workshops on healthy dating and friendships for teens of all ages, genders, and sexual orientations - free and now online!

• Reach out to our coordinator and ask how your faculty and staff can refer teens, parents, and families to our agency for free services

• Have a place for our youth services brochures in your office for teens and parents to take

• Ask us how an advocate can support classroom teachers in discussions around challenging themes of violence that come up in history and literature curricula

• Ask our community engagement coordinator for a media kit with ideas on how you can incorporate into your school’s own social media and events!