Significance of Pretty in Purple Days

Domestic abuse can and does happen to anyone at anytime - children, teens, women, men, and the elderly. Domestic abuse is defined as a coercive pattern of power and control. It is a cycle of emotional, mental, financial, verbal, and/or physical abuse. It destroys families, disrupts workplaces, spills over into schools and neighborhoods, fills hospital emergency rooms and depletes children of cognitive, behavioral and biological wellness. It is a social disease with negative consequences on society as a whole. The good news is, it can be stopped!

For the last 30 years, domestic abuse has been considered solely a women’s issue. The truth is:

• 1 out of 4 women are affected
• 1 out of 9 men are affected
• 3+ million children are affected each year
• 1 in 3 teens experience dating abuse

This issue goes deeper than the above Center for Disease Control Statistics:

• An estimated 75% of domestic abuse victims do not access shelter or other safety resources. According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, only 1/4 of domestic abuse victims seek help.
• Barriers such as fear, shame, financial dependence, and/or threats of losing custody of children keep many victims silent.
• In the last 5 years, over 20,000 children have been orphaned by domestic homicide.
• Domestic abuse can happen at age, to either gender, and in any socioeconomic group.
• Resources for primary prevention, intervention, and abuser conversion are slim, as most of the funding dollars are allocated to tertiary prevention (after the harm occurs). This funding inequity validates the need for community-based prevention and awareness efforts such as Pretty in Purple Days.
• Domestic abuse shares a common thread with many of the other social diseases: the same root causes of shame, worthlessness, insecurity, learned behavior, and cultural/community acceptance.
• Domestic abuse is a preventable social disease and PREVENTION IS THE CURE!

About Purple Ribbon Council
Founded in August 2006, Purple Ribbon Council’s mission is to raise awareness and engage everyday people in the prevention of domestic abuse. We meet this mission through community engagement, prevention education and training, restorative interventions, and cause marketing partnerships that Break the Silence, Break the Cycle, Save Lives.

Purple Ribbon Council bridges the important work of domestic abuse shelters and public policy agencies by going deep into communities to leverage the assets of everyday people in large-scale grassroots awareness, education, outreach and advocacy. We embrace and collaborate with the “natural helpers” — family members, friends, salon and spa professionals, co-workers, teachers, volunteers, fitness instructors and other concerned citizens to prevent domestic abuse before it starts and to interrupt the cycle before harm occurs.

We believe people are the solution to ending domestic abuse. Our goal is true empowerment, rather than one-size fits all services. We view our collaborative, grassroots work as an investment in people, families, communities, and society as a whole.