The Utah Domestic Violence Council invites you to remember those who lost their lives as a result of domestic violence in the last 12 months in our state.

Please join us on 2nd January 2013 at the State Capitol Building in the Rotunda area at 12 pm. We welcome members from all communities and faith groups to reflect on an issue which cuts across all cultural and spiritual divides and which we must come together to address.

American Indian and Alaska Native women are abused, raped and stalked at far greater rates that any other population of women in United States – 6 out of 10 will be physically assaulted in their lifetime, and 1 in 3 Native women will be raped. Eighty-eight percent of the abuse against Native women is committed by non-Native men—but we, as citizens of the United States, permit this abuse to go unchecked because we do not allow police officers, prosecutors and judges on tribal lands to perform their legal obligations regarding these non-Native men. In other words we, citizens of the United States, have sanctioned “open season against Native American women by non-Native men”. This is simply unconscionable. Each of us has an opportunity, now, to right this wrong. 

We urgently ask you to PLEASE:
Stop whatever important thing you are doing right now
Use this number 888.269.5702 to connect to the Capitol switchboard (using this number allows NNEDV to track the number of calls being made). Then ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative or Senator.

Ask your Members of Congress to tell you that they will do one of the following acceptable things:

• Support § 904 in S. 1925
• Sign on as a co-sponsor or pledge their support for the Issa-Cole § 904 compromise language (HR 6625)

Forward this message to all of your programs and distribution lists and ask everyone you know to do the same

The number of deaths due to domestic violence is of epidemic proportion.  This is one of the most predictable and therefore preventable forms of homicide.  These horrific crimes affect innocent children, families, and church families as well as entire communities. 

The Utah Domestic Violence Link line and local domestic violence  programs have seen an increase in both calls for help and the ferocity of violence. 

Local programs have had to turn away more than a thousand requests for shelter due to lack of services. At the same time these key services, which have a long and proven track record in helping families access safety, have been underfunded and off the radar of many legislators. 

Despite proven success of programs, despite evidence of terrific need, despite the clear escalation of violence, the issue of domestic violence, if discussed at all, is often dismissed as a political issue. The bottom line is that domestic violence is being effectively ignored and/or dismissed as is evidenced from the lack of support for local nonprofit service programs.

Domestic Violence is a hideous crime which one in four Utah women and girls will experience. Furthermore the harm caused to innocent children who witness this abuse is devastating and long lasting.  Fully funding our domestic violence programs is simply the right thing to do.

Utah Domestic Violence Council is asking for your support.  If you or someone you know has been affected by domestic violence, or if you have been horrified or moved by the reports of this epidemic of domestic violence homicide in our communities, please call the Governor’s office at (801)538-1000 or (800)705-2464 this week and ask that the state of Utah do the right thing and increase its support of local nonprofit Domestic Violence Programs in fiscal year 2014.

If you or someone you know is in an unsafe relationship and you would like to know how to get help please call the Utah Domestic Violence Link line at 1-800-897-5465. All calls are confidential.

Please consider these services in your holiday gift giving – only together can we make Utah the safest place in the nation for our families.   

By resolution 54/134 of 17 December 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and invited governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities designed to raise public awareness of the problem on that day. Women's activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981. This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).

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For far too long, domestic violence was ignored or treated as a private matter where victims were left to suffer in silence without hope of intervention. As we mark the 18th anniversary of the landmark Violence Against Women Act, authored by Vice President Joe Biden, we reflect on how far we have come. We have made significant progress in changing laws and attitudes, providing support to survivors, and reducing the incidence of domestic violence. But we also know that we have not come far enough, and that there is more work left to be done. During National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we stand with all those who have been affected by this terrible crime, recognize the individuals and groups who have stepped forward to break the cycle of violence, and recommit to putting an end to domestic violence in America. 

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