While there are a lot of commonly known violence crimes including murder, school shootings, harassment, and assault, one violence, in specific, often gets overlooked, when it is just as common as the others: domestic violence.

I am not just speaking about all the various types of abuses but the low awareness our society has on the topic. October is “National Domestic Violence Awareness Month” but often gets shadowed by breast cancer awareness. 

Even when it isn’t domestic violence awareness month, that does not mean we should stop having a conversation about it.

I was unaware of what domestic violence even was until I witnessed it. I have had first-hand experience of the emotions of losing a loved one due to domestic violence.

It really took a toll on me mentally. I did not want to do anything. It took me two months after the funeral to finally be able to come back to reality and accept that my loved one is gone forever. It took another two years just to receive justice for them. Although my beloved sister did not show any sort of symptoms of domestic violence, in the end, the truth about her relationship had come out. 

Families go through feelings too, when a loved one is either seen in pain or hurt in any way or their loved one has been taken from them. Although one person may be “truly” affected by domestic violence, others around will always be affected as well. 

1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical behavior by an intimate partner.

I once read “No single causal model can explain why people hurt those they claim to love.” 

Domestic violence is a seriously awful crime that needs more awareness and needs a solution fast. This crime harms people in numerous ways, leaving victims struggling, injured, or even as far as death. 

I strongly believe nobody should have to go through this experience. Not just the victims, but the witnesses and families. The victims, no matter what gender, who they are, or what they did or have done, do not deserve any type of abuse or their entire life taken away from them. They are simply seeking love in the wrong person. 

As my grandmother always says, “Love should not have to hurt.”

To help bring domestic violence to an end, the National Domestic Violence Hotline welcomes anyone and anybody to do “one thing” to end relationship abuse.

Everyone can become a part of the #1Thing campaign by sharing what they will be doing or what they plan on doing to help these tragic situations of domestic violence.

To join, participants are asked to tape a short message, 30-60 seconds, to answer the question, “What is the one thing you are doing, or plan to do, to end domestic violence?” Afterward, they can share their videos on social media using the hashtags #1Thing and #NDVH and #StopDomesticViolence.

Other organizations, like the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, are for anyone in need of help, want to make donations, and to bring awareness in general.

We all can do one thing to bring awareness.

One last thing we need to do is keep the conversations about domestic violence going all year so we can bring these tragic situations to an end someday.