Pat Bigbie, a Domestic Violence Survivor and Advocate

Our guest tonight, Ms Pat Bigbie, is both a former victim and a survivor of domestic violence.

Domestic violence, often involving alcohol or drugs, sometimes lethal weapons, and almost always unresolved anger management issues, is a problem of epidemic proportions in many parts of the world. One in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. In the United States it is aggravated by the widespread availability of guns, making fatal what might otherwise have been events from which the victim might have recovered.

As we have seen in recent months, the antisocial emotions released in politics can be expressed in the public arena as assaults on women, children, the LGBTQ community, people of color, immigrants, Muslims, and more. Violence, and the threat of violence are powerful instruments of social control.

National Domestic Violence Awareness Month evolved from the “Day of Unity” held in October 1981 and conceived by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The Day of Unity soon evolved into a week, and in October 1987 the first National Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed. In 1989 Congress passed Public Law 101-112, officially designating October of that year as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Such legislation has been passed each year since.

Activists against domestic violence use the color purple to promote awareness, as in purple clothes and purple ribbons. The town of Watertown, New York, paints its fire hydrants purple in recognition of the month.

What are you and your hometown doing to promote awareness and the eradication of domestic violence?