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Newsletter:
The Advocate

Safety Alert: computer use can be monitored and is impossible to completely clear. If you are in danger, please use a safer computer, call your local hotline , and/or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE. If you are at a safer computer, click here to read more.

Speaking Out to End Violence Against Women

• Call the police when you see or hear someone being assaulted.
  
• Educate your self:
  
  • Ask female family members and friends if they have ever been sexually assaulted by an intimate partner.
    
  • Go to your local Family or District Court and observe domestic violence cases for a day. Call the court to find out when these cases are being heard.
    
• Dedicate two hours each month to writing letters to editor, political officials, police chiefs, prosecutors, judges, public defenders about violence issues.
  
• Encourage your local school to teach gender and race equity.
  
• Supervise what your children watch on TV and at the movies. Advocate for non-violent shows.
  
• Purge your speech of violent images (“I'm going to kill you!" or “My husband will kill me if…”).
  
• Don't blame the victim: ask why he batters and not why she stays.
  
• During political campaigns, ask candidates what specific actions they will take to end violence against women.
  
• Ask a woman with bruises or marks if she is being hurt or abused, offer your support and believe her.
  
• Offer support to a parent who is physically punishing their child in public places.
  
• Call the Governor and legislators and ask what they are doing to end violence against women.
  
• Take violence seriously: Don't minimize it, don’t joke about it and confront others who do.
  
• Join Survivors of Crime-P.O. Box 8438, Essex, VT 05451-879-4838.