10/01/2026
This October, let’s talk about the awareness we see versus the reality we hide.
While the world turns pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, another critical movement shares this month in the shadows: Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) 💜.
Breast cancer is a devastating disease that rightly receives massive public visibility. Yet much of the corporate funding raised for "awareness" fails to reach patients struggling with financial strain, medical bills, and treatment side effects.
Meanwhile, millions of domestic violence victims are forced to wear invisible masks every single day. They put on a brave face just to function in a society that too often turns a blind eye to their pain. Breast cancer is an opponent fought in hospitals with open support; domestic violence is a war fought in isolation behind closed doors.
That is why survivors often look to the purple butterfly. The butterfly is a powerful symbol of resilience—it reminds us that even after darkness and confinement, transformation is possible, and beauty can emerge from struggle.
By acknowledging Domestic Violence Awareness Month, you aren't just sharing a post—you could be saving a life:
• Your voice can give a victim the courage and encouragement they need to escape a dangerous situation.
• Your support can empower a survivor to speak up, breaking the cycle and saving someone else’s life down the road.
Let's look past the masks this October. Check on your friends, learn the signs, and let victims know they are seen, heard, and supported.
Domestic abuse is a pattern of coercive, controlling behavior used by one person to gain and maintain power over an intimate partner or family member. It is not limited to physical violence and often involves overlapping tactics.
The major types of domestic abuse include:
1. Physical Abuse
Physical abuse is the use of intentional physical force or the threat of force to cause bodily injury, harm, or impairment.
• Common Behaviors: Hitting, slapping, punching, kicking, strangling, burning, pushing, withholding food or medical care, or using weapons.
• Key Indicator: The abuser uses their physical size or strength to control or intimidate the partner.
2. Emotional and Psychological Abuse
Emotional abuse targets a victim’s self-worth, mental stability, and emotional independence. It is often a precursor to, or occurs alongside, physical violence.
• Common Behaviors: Constant criticism, name-calling, humiliation, public embarrassment, and threats of self-harm or harm to loved ones.
• Gaslighting: A specific tactic where the abuser manipulates reality to make the victim doubt their own memory, sanity, or perception of events.
• Isolation: Controlling who the victim sees, talks to, or where they go to sever their support network.
3. Financial and Economic Abuse
Financial abuse involves controlling a partner’s ability to acquire, use, and maintain economic resources, making them financially dependent on the abuser.
• Common Behaviors: Forbidding the partner from working, controlling all bank accounts, withholding money for basic needs (like food or medicine), forcing the partner to sign financial documents, or intentionally ruining the partner's credit score.
4. Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse includes any non-consensual s*xual activity or behavior forced upon a partner. Consent cannot be assumed or coerced, even within a marriage or committed relationship.
• Common Behaviors: Marital r**e, forcing a partner to perform s*xual acts against their will, demanding s*x after physical violence, or restricting access to birth control or reproductive healthcare (reproductive coercion).
5. Digital and Technological Abuse
Digital abuse uses technology—such as smartphones, social media, and tracking software—to bully, harass, or stalk a partner.
• Common Behaviors: Demanding passwords to accounts, constantly monitoring texts or call logs, using GPS tracking or spyware without permission, or sending threatening messages or non-consensual explicit images.
If you or someone you know needs help, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7. Call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text "START" to 88788. It is free, confidential, and life-saving.
