The White House Proclaims October Domestic Violence Awareness Month

President Bush proclaimed October to be Domestic Violence Awareness Month in 2003. I wanted to highlight some of the parts of his speech since we are in October and the awareness is needed just as much today as ever. I am only posting a few things the President stated in his address below. For the full article you can click on the title link above. There obviously needs to be a lot more work and awareness here, but I applaud and thank President Bush for helping to break the silence.

President Bush said the following about Domestic Violence:

A home, a family should be a place of support, should be a peaceful place -- not a place of cruelty and brutality. Domestic violence betrays the most basic duties of life, it violates the law, it's wrong, it is a crime that must be confronted by individuals, by communities and by government.

Too often its victims suffer in secret and in silence.

Domestic violence cuts across every line of geography and income.

Abuse is found in every community in our country -- every community -- and it must be fought in every community.

Hundreds of thousands of incidents of domestic violence are reported every year. The sad news is, many go unreported.

About a third of women murdered each year in America are killed by this type of violence. And nearly half the households where domestic violence occurs also has a child under 12 years old. There's more than one victim.

Women and children are facing dangers in this country, and they need strong allies.

Imagine what it would be like if you were an abused person trying to find help and you went from one place to another. With laws and police and all the rules of a regulations of a free society, it must be confusing and disheartening. The victim has been so traumatized, and then she has to tell her story over and over again, which repeats the trauma. There's a better way to do this. There's a better way to help people who need help in our society.

We have a moral obligation in our society to help relieve the suffering and to show that there is a better life.

May God bless those who are victims of domestic violence. And may God continue to bless our country. Thank you.