Last night, I had the sincere pleasure and joy to attend the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County (DVSAS) annual auction fundraiser with my incredible family. That’s Erik (or as we affectionately call him ‘ELF’), Otion’s retail store manager, me, my fabulous husband Chris and my sister in law (and frequent hiking buddy), Cheriss. DVSAS supports individuals affected by domestic violence and sexual assault and provides community education. Last year, in Whatcom County, they provided services to over 3,000 people. We were thrilled to be able to support such a worthy organization.
Wow, thank you for your heart felt comments and experience sharing everyone. Your thoughts are very moving and exactly the things that were talked about at the event.
Leslie, Thank you for sharing your story and for your volunteer work in this area.
Miranda, you are SO right about the need to educate and talk about this difficult subject. Kudos to you for taking the education piece once step farther.
p.s. Just as a side note, my #1 requirement for dating material back when I was single was that he had to be a self-proclaimed feminist. I found Mr. Right pretty easily by using that formula. 😀
Awesome, Anne-Marie! This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart, as I am a survivor of a sexually abusive relationship. I truly commend you for supporting this organization.
Some thoughts on the subject:
*Domestic violence and sexual abuse are something that needs to be talked about and not swept under the rug, like they are, all too often. Open dialogue and light shed on the issue is a great tool to help defeat it.
*Also, society in general needs to be conscious of the fact that men also fall prey to domestic violence and sexual assault.
*The kind of masculinity that our society supports and teaches to boys is dangerous, and that is what I believe causes the problem. It hurts not only girls and women, but boys and men as well (by unattainable expectations and denial of human feelings). I truly believe that what Leslie said above is true: these are crimes of violence and power, not sex. As an educator of young children, I strive to teach through exampe that we can all be loving, sensitive, and respectful people, and that being a "tough guy" is not where it's at.
WONDERFUL!!! Yes what a wonderful cause!!
As a violent crime (rape and attempted murder) SURVIVOR (I refuse to be a victim for life), I salute you for giving your support to such a great organization! I used to work for a county prosecuting attorney's office as an advocate for the innocents involved in crimes. For the most part, I worked with juvenile sex crime victims (some as young as 2months). Organizations like this, and many others, do a great job at reminding the public that these are crimes of violence and power, not sex. Thank you for giving of your time and money to keep them going.
Leslie
How wonderful that you were able to go and support them!
I don't often get out to things like that, but we donate to the local shelters for abused women and children where they are always in need of toiletries, diapers, undergarments, etc. So, I thought I'd let people know that if they travel often and collect those little bottles of shampoos from hotel rooms, they can probably them to their local abuse shelters. 🙂