To the editor:

For Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2025 and beyond, we commit to showing up for survivors, always. Each October Domestic Violence Awareness Month rolls around. The month serves as a reminder that domestic violence exists. It reminds us that children and adults are traumatized in their own homes by emotional, financial, verbal, and yes, physical assaults that largely go unnoticed by their neighbors, friends, and families.

The theme this year is “With Survivors, Always.” Survivors need, depend on, and deserve safety, our support, and our solidarity. We need to stand with survivors. But before we can stand with them we must see them, recognize that they are among us, and reach out to them.

Even though we might not see domestic violence, it does exist. The behaviors of abusive people become normalized in their homes. Victims become trapped by fear, self-doubt, financial realities, and loneliness. We don’t see their struggles, but they are struggling nonetheless.

Since 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime, it is a sure thing that you know at least one victim. Take stock of the women you know. One in four of the women friends you have is a potential victim. That woman is in the struggle.

Perhaps you have been wondering about her. What is going on? She’s changed. She’s covering for someone. She stays at home. She doesn’t talk about her partner in glowing terms anymore. She leaves in a hurry to get home before he does. Her eyes look hollow. Tension and anxiety have replaced light heartedness and laughter.

She probably won’t offer an explanation unless you ask. So ask: “Is everything OK at home?” Or “Are you in a safe place or an unsafe place?” Maybe then she will tell you what she’s been holding in, what she’s been afraid to give voice to. Maybe then, you can become her safe place. Listening without judgment. Listening without expectations. Just listening. Then after you’ve listened, you can ask, “What can I do for you? How can I help?”

Start the conversation. Stand with a survivor. Offer safety. Be there for support. Act in ways that build solidarity.

For more information about domestic violence, call the Christina House Domestic Violence Program at 330-420-0036. Join us at the “Take Back the Night Walk” on October 9 at 5 PM at the Christina Center 115 E. Washington St. in Lisbon.

NICKIE OSTICK,

Lisbon