by Sheila N. Johnson

This isn't a blog post; it's a call to action.

Domestic violence advocacy is hard work. It can be gut-wrenching: Women are murdered. Children’s arms are broken. Abused men lose respect. Teens drop out of high school. This work is a constant uphill battle and sometimes it’s hard to avoid burnout. Lately, I find myself getting more and more frustrated. The source of my frustration is you. It’s seems that my biggest challenge lately is to get you to support us. No kidding.

We struggle to get your attention. The proverbial “we” here is neither my agency nor my sister agencies nor the state coalition. We is the movement to end domestic violence. People shy away from domestic violence in Rhode Island and in California and everywhere in between. Yet, we know you care. I know this because everywhere I go someone says how horrible it is that a woman must go through "something like that" or someone tells me that his sister went through it or a friend is going through it right now or it happened to me. As soon as I say I work in domestic violence, people look at me with pride. An elderly woman once told me I was an angel from heaven. A woman from Rome once grabbed my face in both hands and kissed me on each cheek and said thank you for doing this for women. I'm no hero. I am just doing my job.

Read more: Nothing Compares 2 U

By Sara Molinaro

We successfully launched our new campaign for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, “What They See Can Hurt for Life”, at the Providence Children’s Museum this morning.  Almost 100 supporters and advocates came out to see the launch of the campaign and stand in solidarity as we tried to shine a light on the issue of children who witness domestic violence.

Our goals for this year’s campaign are numerous. On the most basic level, we hope to raise general awareness in Rhode Island that witnessing domestic violence can have a profound and lasting negative impact on children, even infants. We also hope to raise awareness about the services that are available in our state to help treat children, to counteract or prevent these negative effects. We also hope to effectively reach out to the diverse Latino communities in Rhode Island, who have long been underserved by our movement.

Read more: What They See Can Hurt For Life

By Chris Wilhite

Changing societal attitudes about gender norms and violence is probably the single most important driver to end violence against women. It requires that every individual and institution in our society work towards creating and supporting equality and healthy environments, before the violence occurs.

But when you look around, you see many of those negative attitudes almost everywhere - especially in our humor. A few months ago, Amazon.com was marketing a t-shirt that said, "Battered women taste better." This spread like wildfire among the national network of domestic violence advocates, who emailed both Amazon.com and the private seller of the t-shirt. The seller tried to explain that it was just funny and that they did not support violence against women. But how can you say that something like this is acceptable and then speak out of the other side of you mouth to say that you don't support such an attitude. Fortunately, the public outcry forced Amazon.com to remove the t-shirt from their web site.

Read more: Not Funny: Marketing Humor and Social Norms

By Sheila Johnson

Remember the good old days when a woman found a husband by hanging around the village until Mr. Right threw her over his shoulder, and carried her into the night? You are probably shaking your head and saying, “Thank god that barbaric practice no longer exists!” Or does it?

For the past sixteen years, Finland has held the World-Wide Wife Carrying Competition (WWWCC). Last month, 47 couples from 10 countries competed in front of 6500 spectators.  Husbands carry their wives for 250 meter race over obstacles, including a water jump. The prize: the winning wife's weight in beer. Men, competition, women's bodies, and beer, need I say more about its popularity?

The Finns acknowledge that the practice is rooted in male dominance and violence (they don’t actually use these words), but the sport has taken on a more self-conscious irony over the years. One of the competition's many rules is that everyone must have fun. Watch this YouTube video and you will hear roars of laughter from spectators and contestants alike. What’s funnier than a man collapsing from the weight of a woman on his back? There is also a rule about the woman's weight. She must be a minimum of 107 lbs. If she is any less, she can carry stones. The lighter the better? Wrong, the lighter the woman, the lighter the beer.

Read more: Heave Ho