October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
GFWC’s Signature Program is Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention. It is estimated that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime, so it is important that we speak up and speak out. To affect change, we need to speak freely about how domestic violence impacts our families, communities and our lives.
Wear purple and send the message that domestic violence is never okay. Use Domestic Violence Awareness Month as a platform to begin talking about this issue in your community. Join the GFWC legislative action center to make your voice heard on the issues that impact domestic violence and sexual assault. http://cqrcengage.com/gfwc/home?1
Domestic violence will continue if we don’t speak up. That’s why we refuse to back down and will show the world that we as GFWC members are united in the fight to end domestic violence.
As part of the GFWC Signature Program: Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention, the GFWC Success For Survivors Scholarship was created to lend a helping hand to those impacted by violence who are pursuing higher education. The scholarship aims to provide survivors with a means to achieve both financial and personal independence. Since its inception, GFWC has awarded over $60,000 in scholarship funds. Applications for the scholarship are being taken now through February 7, 2020; https://www.gfwc.org/success-survivors
For more than 25 years, the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, has been the source for information https://nrcdv.org/. Initially they were funded though the US Department of Health and Human Resources. In 2011 they became an independent organization and through key initiatives and special projects, they continue to improve community response to domestic violence to prevent its occurrence. The NRCDV’s three key initiatives include the Domestic Violence Awareness Project, the DV Evidence Project, and VAWnet.
October 18th is National Mammography Day
With one in eight women in the US at risk for developing breast cancer, early detection is critical to survival. Our best weapon in the fight to survive this killer is the mammogram. Now, the gold standard for breast cancer screening, mammogram technology has made continual and critical improvements since its inception in 1969. The benefits of early detection, reducing mortality by up to 40%, far outweigh any risk or momentary discomfort!
While obesity, inactive lifestyle, smoking, medical and family history can all increase a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer, proactive monthly self-exams and regular mammograms are how we fight back! It’s how we “fight like a girl” and win!
If cost is stopping you, talk to your doctor, local imaging center, the National Breast Cancer Foundation or the Susan G. Komen Foundation for help. The cost of early detection is priceless!
If you’ve had a recent mammogram, job well done! If you haven’t, make the call and schedule today. Call a friend to schedule too and make a celebration out of it! Do it for you. Do it for the ones who love you. Do it for all our foremothers who would have loved to have had the chance at early detection and increased survival. Choose your “best” reason and get checked!