DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH ACTIVITIES
OCTOBER 2005
HISTORY
of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
Domestic Violence Awareness Month was conceived and developed by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Established in 1978, this organization is dedicated to the empowerment of battered women and their children and to the elimination of personal and societal violence in their lives.
Domestic Violence Awareness Month evolved from the first Day of Unity in October 1981. The original intent was to connect battered women’s advocates across the United States through a range of activities conducted at the local, state, and national levels. The first Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed in October 1987.
The Shelter House sponsors domestic violence public education events and activities every October. Please keep reading to learn about activities proposed for your area. Use the events and your own sensitivity to battering to encourage others to learn to take advantage of the activities so that they might learn more about battering and what it does to families.
WILLMAR-AREA ACTIVITIES in 2005
Affiliated Medical Center: October 1— 21.
The Shelter House will place a display on domestic violence issues in the lobby . Visitors may obtain personal copies of brochures on Shelter House services and information on domestic violence.
K Mart: October 1– 31
Domestic violence information will be on display in the store located in the Kandi Mall. Visitors may obtain personal copies of brochures on Shelter House services and information on domestic violence.
Willmar Public Library : October 17 — 23.
The Domestic Violence Clothesline Project will be on display The Clothesline Project is a national art project started by women as a memorial to the victims and survivors of domestic violence. The project involves designing shirts which reflect women's personal experiences with battering, rape, sexual assault, incest, child abuse, and prostitution.
The shirts are hung on a clothesline and displayed in a public location. The purpose is to create a visual memorial to the casualties and survivors of the war against women.
The Minnesota Clothesline Project began in 1992 when over 300 shirts were hung by participants from all over the state to commemorate their own, or other women's and children's, experience as victims of the war against women and children.
Included were shirts designed by the Arts Against Domestic Violence for each of the women and children who died from domestic violence. A 1993 Clothesline honoring the women and children murdered in Minnesota in that year as a result of domestic violence was premiered at Battered Women's Day at the State Capitol in March 1994.
Clotheslines from 1992 to the present honoring the women and children in Minnesota killed as a result of domestic violence are available for exhibit throughout the state to raise public awareness of the prevalence and severity of women abuse and child abuse.
All Clotheslines now travel to communities throughout the state of Minnesota. The project is administered in Minnesota by the Minnesota Coalition for battered Women.
The shirts on each Clothesline are designed by volunteer artists. Most of the artists did not know the woman or child they honored with a shirt but had brief information collected mainly from news accounts. Beginning in 1993, the Clothesline has included shirts designed by family members for their lost loved ones.
KWLM Radio: Tuesday, October 18th, 10:00 to 11:00 am
Bud Hanson will host an interview with Jennifer Kotila (Shelter House Community Education Coordinator) on his Open Mike radio show . Listeners will have an opportunity to call in with questions and comments.
Kandiyohi County Courthouse: October 18 at 12:00 noon
Mayor’s Proclamation Ceremony will honor women and children who have died as a result of domestic violence and salute local women who have survived domestic violence.
CHIPPEWA/LAC QUI PARLE AREA ACTIVITIES
Chippewa County Courthouse: October 21st at1:00 pm
A domestic violence “Proclamation Ceremony” will be held in front of the courthouse. In case of bad weather, the event will be held downstairs in the Chippewa Room. A domestic abuse survivor will speak of her experience.
RENVILLE COUNTY ACTIVITIES
Renville County Courthouse: October 17 through the 31st
An “Empty Shoe” display will document the lives of domestic violence victims in Minnesota January through September 2005. Attached to each “empty shoe” will be information about the 13 women and 11 children who died. Visitors may obtain personal copies of brochures on Shelter House services and information on domestic violence.
LITCHFIELD-AREA ACTIVITIES
KLFD Radio: Tuesday, October 4th, 8:15 to 8:40 am
Tim Bergstrom will host an interview with Jennifer Kotila.
AREA-WIDE ACTIVITIES
The seventh annual national Love Your Body Day, a project of the NOW Foundation, is scheduled for Wednesday, October 19th. Love Your Body Day is a day of actions protesting negative images of women in the media, raising awareness of women's health issues, and celebrating the beauty and diversity of all women's bodies.