A list of people in Kentucky who have died because of domestic violence, ranging in age from 19 to 73, was displayed in the Capitol rotunda last year during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)
More than 20,000 times in 2024, survivors of domestic violence bravely reached out to their local Kentucky domestic violence hotlines seeking safety, support, and a chance to build a better future for themselves and their children.
And more than 20,000 times, Kentucky’s survivor advocates picked up the phone to say, “Are you safe? I’m here for you. You matter.” Our advocates were able to offer compassion and support on the other end of the line because of generations of advocates who painstakingly built ZeroV’s coalition of domestic violence programs over the last 40-plus years.
Now, because of the ongoing federal government shutdown and other destabilizing actions at the federal level, domestic violence service providers in Kentucky and across the nation are facing enormous uncertainty about their ability to continue providing lifesaving services to survivors.
What remains certain is that survivors and their children depend on our services for safety and survival, and they will continue to need support regardless of what the future brings for us as providers. Friends, family, neighbors and communities have always had an essential role to play in supporting survivors, but that role may become even more critical should providers be forced to reduce their services.
This Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we are calling on all Kentuckians to step into the ways they can help create a safer world for survivors and their children. Here are a few steps you can take to help us make sure survivors can always find someone to meet their bravery with compassion and support.
Before you can address a problem, you have to be able to identify it. Learning what domestic violence is will help you recognize when it is happening so that you can take appropriate action to address it. Domestic violence is not exclusive to physical violence;it can also include verbal abuse, emotional abuse, financial abuse, weaponization of social stigma, stalking and intimidation, sexual and reproductive coercion, and sabotage of career and education.
Domestic violence is a pattern of violent, coercive behavior used to exert power and control over an intimate partner or family member. It is complex and takes many forms that can be easy to miss and dismiss if you don’t know what to look for. You can start learning more about what DV looks like at zerov.org/resources.
Supporting survivors doesn’t mean you have to be an expert on domestic violence, it just means offering survivors safety to share their story. Offering safety looks like listening to survivors without judgment, validating their feelings and respecting their boundaries. Your role isn’t to tell them what to do but to walk alongside them and help them navigate their options.
Learn more about how you can support survivors from the National Domestic Violence Hotline and practice these skills in your everyday interactions to prepare yourself for conversations that help survivors stay safe. To take your skills to the next level, attend a Green Dot class, which teaches tactics and strategies for intervening in situations of power-based personal violence, including sexual violence, intimate partner violence, child abuse, elder abuse, bullying and stalking.
The ZeroV coalition includes 15 state-designated domestic violence programs. Find your local domestic violence program and see how you can support its work, which could look like organizing a donation drive for needed supplies, volunteering for a fundraising event, filling an open position on the board, or making calls to your Congress members and legislators to advocate for continued funding for domestic violence programs.
We all have the responsibility and the power to support survivors and end domestic violence. By broadening our understanding, strengthening our skills, and investing our time and energy in the organizations that support survivors, we can create a future where every Kentuckian is safe to live, work, play and thrive; one where every Kentuckian can find safety in one another and in their communities; and one where everyday advocates, just like you, answer the call to bring an end to domestic violence, one action, one conversation and one day at a time.
