Domestic Abuse Awareness

As October kicks off, so does Domestic Violence Awareness Month and with it our =DomesticAbuse public awareness campaign. As one of our many efforts to spread awareness about domestic abuse, this campaign is unique in that it focuses on educating the community about forms of domestic abuse other than physical violence. The messaging behind this campaign focuses on five themes, one for each week of October. Each theme aims to start a conversation about the wide range of behaviors that can be considered domestic abuse.

• The first theme, Controls Who I See, includes actions such as isolating someone from their family and friends and controlling their finances in a way that prevents them from leaving.
• The second theme, Threatens My Pets, is a form of power that is reported as extremely common amongst domestic abuse victims with a pet in the house.
• The third theme, Intentionally Hurts Me, can include actions such as verbal and psychological abuse.
• The fourth theme, Threatens Our Kids, can include the threat to take children away from a partner as well as threats of physical harm.
• The fifth and final theme, Checks My Phone, can be a tricky one to navigate. While it is normal to keep an eye on your partners online presence, this theme refers to controlling who someone communicates with online or the controlling the websites and information they are able to view.

The first =Domestic Abuse Billboards in 2013

Our =DomesticAbuse campaign started in 2013 with billboards around the community and has since expanded to several other mediums. Our billboard campaign has shifted to digital billboard space. We have a poster campaign stretching across the valley, with posters hanging at over 350 businesses in Meridian and Boise. Each theme is printed in the Boise Weekly newspaper. We have partnered with Boise State’s Gender Equity Center to bring this campaign to campus. And gaining more traction this year is our online social media campaign focused on five =DomesticAbuse themes.

Some ways to get involved with our =DomesticAbuse campaign this October include:

• Hanging posters around your community or place of business, reach out to the WCA office for information about receiving posters.
• Posting pictures on social media of =DomesticAbuse posters that you see around the community and tagging the WCA for a chance to be entered in a raffle. Each week one of these entries will be chosen to receive a $5.00 Black Rock Coffee gift card.

Getting involved in our =DomesticAbuse social media campaign, for more information check out our Social Media Toolkit or contact outreach@wcaboise.org.

by Gabrielle Hora

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