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How To Advocate For Safety For Domestic Violence Survivors

Domestic violence can manifest in different ways, but what always remains clear is how important it is to help — and believe — survivors.
On Tuesday, the National Network To End Domestic Violence hosted a chat on Twitter, centered around the ways that we can advocate for the safety of survivors. NNEDV's hashtag, #Safety4Survivors began trending as people tweeted the ways in which we can address the specific challenges that survivors of domestic violence face.
The Twitter hashtag was a part of NNEDV's Week of Action (in honor of National Domestic Violence Month), which is broken down into seven days' worth of actionable items that people can do in order to fight against domestic violence.
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As NNEDV pointed out, safety can look like different things to different people, but among the things survivors may need are safe housing, a good support network, and financial stability.
Not only that, survivors need to feel safe when reporting abuse — something that might be more difficult for some than others, reiterating that intersectional identities and unique situations have to come into play in the conversation around survivors.
Domestic violence, of course, may not always be physical — as Rachel Goldsmith, LCSW-R, associate vice president for the Domestic Violence Shelter Programs at Safe Horizon told us, "A person can try to take power or control over another person in a lot of different ways that aren't physical, and still could be controlling that individual."
As such, it's important to remember that it can be difficult for survivors to ask for help — but it's on all of us to keep them safe.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or TTY 1-800-787-3224 for confidential support.
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