Fear: n. a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
Many men, women, and children often experience this feeling due to domestic violence and sexual assault. Not only are victims afraid to speak about it, but society is afraid to address it.
The NO MORE campaign has been working since 2009 to bring people together to help end domestic violence and sexual assault. NO MORE wants to help people bring up the subjects with more ease and help give everyone resources to tackle the issues. They have hundreds of organizations nationwide working on prevention, support, and services for survivors.
Not everyone understands how serious domestic violence and sexual assault can be. Here are just a few of the facts, according to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, Liz Claiborne Inc. & Family Violence Prevention Fund, and U.S. Centers for Disease Control: One in 3 women and 1 in 4 men experience violence from their partners in their lifetime. One in 3 teens experience sexual or physical abuse or threats from a boyfriend or girlfriend in one year. One in 5 women are survivors of rape. One in 2 women and 1 in 5 men have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lives. One in 4 women and 1 in 6 men were sexually abused before the age of 18. These numbers show the amount of people affected by the violence and assault. They stand for people we encounter every day; mothers, fathers, friends, teammates, teachers, students, the list goes on.
Society as a whole needs to join together to help end domestic violence and sexual assault. In order to end it, the silence needs to be broken. People need to learn about the topics and begin talking about them with those they know. If someone sees something, even something they may not think anything of, they need to tell somebody and report it. Society needs to raise awareness to these subjects.
For more information on the NO MORE campaign, visit www.nomore.org
If you or someone you know need to talk to someone and you don’t know who to go to, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 | 1-800-787-3224 (TTY) or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1.800.656.HOPE.