October is being recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in New York State. Governor Kathy Hochul on Sunday issued a proclamation and directed that all State landmarks be illuminated in purple Sunday night and again on October 19, in honor of those impacted by domestic violence. Coinciding with this proclamation, the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence will conduct weekly ‘Domestic Violence 101’ training and ‘Gender-Based Violence Awareness Training for Social Service Districts’, collaborate with the State Office of General Services to host the New York State Clothesline Project, collaborate with Syracuse University to host a Start the Conversation: Engaging Men and Boys Panel, and recognize #PurpleThursday.
In compliance with Executive Order 19, all New York State agencies have created internal Gender-Based Violence and the Workplace policies and the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence has trained almost 70,000 New York State employees in the Gender-Based Violence and the Workplace training.
“My mother dedicated her life to helping survivors of domestic violence, and her memory inspires me every day to take action,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “While we take time to uplift survivors this month, we also acknowledge our commitment to preventing domestic violence and keeping New Yorkers safe. I am committed to using every tool at my disposal to end domestic violence and support survivors.”
In collaboration with Syracuse University, OPDV will be holding a panel focusing on the Pledge of Accountability Against Gender-Based Violence. The pledge is part of a larger state effort to increase men and boys’ role in violence prevention. In partnership with Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, OPDV launched the Pledge of Accountability Against Gender-Based Violence and our Start the Conversation: Engaging Men and Boys media campaign on April 12th. The panel will focus on a discussion as to why the panelists signed the Pledge for Accountability Against Gender-Based Violence and how they are preventing gender-based violence in their lives. This event will be held at Syracuse University on October 24th at 6pm. OPDV will continue to promote their Pledge for Accountability Against Gender-Based Violence. Since its launch in April, OPDV has been proud to partner with, and highlight, two New York State officials and 10 New York State agencies as they took the Pledge of Accountability.
The agency will also recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month by hosting the New York State Clothesline Project. October of 1990 saw the original Clothesline Project with 31 shirts displayed on the village green in Hyannis, Massachusetts, as part of an annual “Take Back the Night” March and Rally. Throughout the day, women came forward to create shirts and the line kept growing. This very action serves many purposes. It acts as an educational tool for those who come to view the Clothesline; it becomes a healing tool for anyone who make a shirt – by hanging the shirt on the line, survivors, friends and family can literally turn their back on some of that pain of their experience and walk away; finally it allows those who are still suffering in silence to understand that they are not alone. The exhibit at the Empire State Plaza concourse will provide information on local service providers and New York State resources.
OPDV will also host ‘Domestic Violence 101’, an hour-long virtual training course for staff, supervisors, and administrators working in local districts, private nonprofit agencies, municipalities, and other professionals who help survivors of gender-based and domestic violence. This web-based training is a basic introduction to gender-based and domestic violence, including definitions, defining consent and statistics.ctober is
