Show Your Support for Survivors This October!

This October is Domestic Violence Action Month (DVAM). YWCA Spokane will be launching our 4th annual local campaign called End The Silence focused on growing awareness about intimate partner violence and how the community can show up to make a difference.

YWCA agencies across the nation will be engaging in domestic violence prevention and awareness campaigns throughout October. An effort first established by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in 1981.

This October, we are launching a series of ways you can commit to End The Silence with YWCA Spokane.  Thank you for joining us as we elevate awareness of, education about, and prevention towards intimate partner violence in the Spokane community.

Below are easy ways you can join us and help End The Silence this October.

Awareness

1. Light Up Spokane
2. Wear Purple
3. Buy End The Silence Cookies
4. Join Our Chalk Walk
5. Get Visible With Posters & Swag
6. Share Online: #EndTheSilence
7. Watch The End The Violence Documentary

Education

1. Start By Believing
2. Get The Facts
3. Host A Training

Prevention

1. Promote Healthy Relationships
2. Be A Positive Bystander
3. Invite Young People To End The Silence Activities

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Build Awareness

Purple is the nationally designated color to visually represent support for domestic violence awareness during October. YWCA Spokane’s goal is to light up Spokane in purple this October so we can spread awareness and show victims and survivors of intimate partner violence that Spokane stands with them in solidarity. Here are some ways in which you can help blanket our town in purple.

1. Help Light Up Spokane In Purple

Let’s kick-off this year’s End The Silence campaign by supporting survivors of intimate partner violence with a community-wide visual demonstration of solidarity. We invite you to light up your home or place of work purple during the month of October.

This united, visual form of support will help the many silenced victims in our community know they are not alone, safe allies are out there, and they don’t have to do this on their own.

Help us show survivors that we are here to support them and that we will no longer tolerate the veil of silence that has been devastating to so many women, children, and families in our community.

If you are not able to light your building purple during the entire month, consider the following dates that align with when the Steam Plant will be lighting it’s smokestacks purple.

• • October 1st – 6th
  • October 24th – 29th
  • October 30th – 31st

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2. Wear Purple

Incorporating purple into your wardrobe this October is a great way to show the community that you stand with survivors. Purple tops, bottoms, scarves, hats, nail polish, etc. Get creative with how you express your support for survivors and the End The Silence movement.

Every Thursday in October is #PurpleThursday at YWCA Spokane. Consider sharing photos of your purple outfits with YWCA Spokane on social media with hashtag #PurpleThursday!

Remember to wear your End The Silence button throughout October. If you would like to request End The Silence buttons please call 509-326-1190 to make a request.

YWCA Spokane’s new limited-edition End The Silence t-shirts are now available to purchase and wear this October! 

PURCHASE A T-SHIRT

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3. Buy End The Silence Cookies From Sweet Frostings

Starting October 1st and running through the entire month of October, Sweet Frostings Blissful Bakeshop will have End The Silence cookies for sale. A portion of the proceeds will go directly to support YWCA Spokane and our End The Silence movement.

Spread awareness within our community about our End The Silence campaign by purchasing these cookies for friends, family, or co-workers. Thank you!

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4. Join Our Chalk Walk

Every Monday in October, YWCA Spokane and other agencies, businesses, and individuals take a moment to write on sidewalks across Spokane to show support to victims and survivors of domestic violence. You are welcome to stop by YWCA Spokane at 930 N Monroe St, Spokane, WA 99201 to write your message of support on our sidewalk too!

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5. Get Visible

YWCA Spokane has posters, brochures, and End The Silence swag that you can display in high traffic areas such as in windows, bathrooms, and on bulletin boards at your place of work. Help spread the message about the many ways your friends and coworkers can get involved and end the silence surrounding domestic violence.

Download and Print:

• • End the Silence Poster 11×17
  • End The Silence Flyer 8.5×11
  • Call 509-326-1190 for more information about other End The Silence Swag

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6. Share Online with #endthesilence

Paint your digital presence purple! Post our End The Silence graphic on your personal or company social media page expressing your commitment to the End The Silence movement this October. Suggest others do the same.  Take an End The Silence photo with one of our End The Silence Selfie Signs expressing why you are supporting the movement. Post using hashtag #endthesilence. Update your Facebook and Twitter profiles one of our End The Silence banners.

End The Silence Facebook Profile Photo

Add the End The Silence frame to your Facebook profile picture. To add a frame to your profile picture:

1. 1. Go to www.facebook.com/profilepicframes.
   2. Select a frame from the menu or search for the frame you want to use. Example: search for “End the Silence”
   3. Click Use as Profile Picture to save.

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7. Join the End The Violence Movement

Spokane unites to stop domestic violence in our community. You can be a part of this movement as well. Watch this powerful documentary highlighting the domestic violence epidemic in our community and help spread the message about ending the violence by sharing this documentary on social media. Watch the End The Violence documentary here.

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Education

Intimate partner violence is often misunderstood and we can feel helpless when thinking about what we can do to help. One of the goals for End The Silence is to educate on what intimate partner violence looks like and how you can support someone you know who is suffering from it.

1. Start By Believing

The first step to understanding the ways in which intimate partner violence affects us and those around us is by believing survivors and making them feel validated.

If someone is telling you they’re experiencing domestic violence, let them know you believe them and that you are available to listen without judgment. Don’t rush to solve their problems or tell them what to do. See them as the expert in their own lives and explain that you are here to support them in whatever way they need.

If you or someone you know is in need of help, call YWCA Spokane’s free and confidential helpline at (509) 326-2255.

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2. Get The Facts

The below facts are provided courtesy of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence:

• • On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.¹
  • Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.²
  • Women between the ages of 18-24 are most commonly abused by an intimate partner.²
  • The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%.¹⁰
  • 1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to this violence.⁵
  • Many more devastating facts about domestic violence.

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3. Host a Training

YWCA Spokane’s Education and Outreach Coordinator, Nicole Nimens, is available to facilitate free training on various topics including how to help a friend or co-worker, how domestic violence impacts the work environment, myths about intimate partner violence, indicators of an abusive relationship, understanding biases, exploring power and control, and being a bystander with gender-based violence. Learn more about intimate partner domestic violence training here. 

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Prevention

Preventing intimate partner violence starts with understanding and building healthy relationships. Talk to your kids, friends, family members, co-workers, etc about healthy relationships. Topics that fall under this can include consent, boundaries, and healthy communication.

1. Talk To Youth About Healthy Relationships

Below are some useful resources on how to talk to kids and teens about healthy relationships.

• • Futures Without Violence
  • Love Is Respect
  • Power and Control Wheel
  • Healthy Relationship Wheel

Learn more about YWCA Spokane’s prevention efforts and how we can work with you and your youth organizations to foster healthy relationships with our young people.

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2. Be a Positive Bystander

Playing an active role when you see signs of intimate partner violence is a crucial part of preventing it. Speak up, or reach out if you see people struggling in relationships. Speak out against ideas that promote violence, such as hate speech, racism, victim-blaming, and degrading language.

Challenge violent or discriminatory behavior based on someone’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or level of ability. Attend community events and cultural and religious celebrations. Participate in local politics. Talk to your neighbors. Be an active and engaged community member!

Stay up to date on event within our community each month by visiting YWCA Spokane’s Community Events page.

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3. Invite Youth To End The Silence Activities

Below is YWCA Spokane’s calendar of events for the month of October. Consider joining us throughout the month to help Spokane End The Silence that surrounds domestic violence.

End The Silence Cookie Sales

• • When: October 1st-31st
  • Where: Sweet Frostings Blissful Bakeshop
  • What: Purchase End The Silence cookies with a portion of the proceeds supporting Domestic Violence Action Month and End The Silence.

Chalk Walk Mondays

• • When: Mondays throughout October
  • Where: The sidewalk in front of your house! Or YWCA Spokane sidewalk.
  • What: Write a message of support for survivors of intimate partner violence in chalk and share a photo of it with us on social media using #endthesilence.

Purple Thursdays

• • When: Thursdays throughout October
  • Where: Anywhere!
  • What: Wear purple to show your support for survivors of intimate partner violence. Take a selfie and post share it with us on social media using #PurpleThursdays!

Recipe for a Healthy “We”

• • When: Saturday, October 26th
  • Where: Northtown Mall
  • What: Stop by Northtown Mall and learn about the ingredients necessary for a healthy relationship as a part of our intimate partner violence prevention mission. Take selfies in our photo booth and stop into Sweet Frostings and purchase an End The Silence cookie!
  • Facebook Event Info

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Remember, October Ends, But Intimate Partner Violence Doesn’t!

October is only the beginning! We are using this month as the kick-off to a year of supporting survivors of intimate partner violence and working towards ending family violence and trauma in Spokane. Your support starts here. So join us on our mission and help make an impact in our community.

Intimate partner violence thrives under isolation. By coming together as a community in support of survivors of intimate partner violence, we are acknowledging the situation survivors face and demonstrate that they are not alone!

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Donate To Our End The Silence Campaign

If you would like to financially support YWCA Spokane’s mission to End The Silence surrounding domestic violence, please consider making a donation today. Make sure to reference “End The Silence” in the comment line. Thank you sincerely for the many ways you can help us end the silence.

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