by Faith Chojar, staff reporter
Roughly 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States. To put that into perspective, that’s more than 12 million people per year and about the population of the country of Cuba. Along with that, 2 million injuries and 1,300 deaths are caused each year as a result of domestic violence.
NO MORE is an organization started in 2009 focused on ending domestic violence and sexual assault. No More is made up of many different allies and partners, all whom share the belief that increased conversation is the key to change.
“We’re working really hard to curb this issue, but it goes on in so many households across the country and the world that it becomes increasingly more difficult, especially when people refuse to speak up,” a NYC Police Officer said.
According to the US Department of Justice, domestic violence is defined as “A pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.”
This type of violence runs rampant within households all across the country and the world. It often leaves people too afraid to speak up, keeping this problem to themselves for it to be repeated time and time again.
“Domestic violence and sexual assault aren’t right. Nobody deserves to be treated that way,” freshman Melanie Piansky said.
No More is working towards normalizing the conversation about both of these issues, stating that 64% of Americans say if they knew more about domestic violence and sexual assault, it would make it easier to help someone.
One in five women are raped in their lifetime in the United States, which adds up to almost 22 million women.
With the power of increased communication and awareness about the issues, people all across the globe can pledge to say “NO MORE” to sexual assault and domestic violence, bringing society one step closer to ending these problems.
