10/20/2026
Welcome to Week #3 of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. During the month of October Liberty Resources and community organizations will be working together to raise awareness about the experiences of domestic violence survivors. You will see purple silhouettes displayed at different community organizations with quotes from survivors in our county. This silhouette project is our way of showing survivors they are not alone, and that we stand with them. This week you can see the silhouettes in Norwich at Dr. Banks medical office, Super 8 (Norwich), DSS, the Norwich Library, and Pet Street Station. Attached are pictures from these locations.
If you or someone you know needs help because of domestic violence or sexual assault, please reach out to our hotline at 1-855-966-9723 to speak with an advocate. We can discuss with you your options, resources, and ways we can support you through the process.
Supporting a Loved One Experiencing Violence
Many survivors who experiencing violence often confide in a family member, friend, or personal relationship whom they trust before ever seeking professional or legal help. The response they receive plays a big part in whether that survivor feels validated and will go on to seek additional supports. Here's some tips to appropriately support someone who discloses to you that they've experienced a form of violence: Believe & Validate: don't question or minimize the experience, focus on how they must have felt, etc. Speak on the Offender's Actions, Not the Victim's Response: victim-blaming can re-traumatize a survivor Do More Listening Than Talking: allow the individual to tell their story at their pace instead of prying with questions or asking for more details Encourage Documentation: logging details of the event can be helpful in an investigation & they will have it for future reference if they are unsure about reporting Offer Resources: national and local programs like hotlines can provide professional support, information, resources, and safety planning to the survivor Respect the Victim's Privacy: never share information about the survivor with their perpetrator, respect their wishes about who to tell/not tell about their experience Check In: healing can be a long journey, so continue checking in and offering support as time passes.
Stalking
According to the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, & Resource Center (SPARC), an estimated 13.5 million people are stalked every year in the United States. However, when it comes to forms of abuse, such as dating and domestic violence, or sexual assault, we often don't identify stalking to be as impactful. With the media's portrayal of stalking in shows like "You," this abuse is often romanticized and downplayed. However, in 76% of intimate-partner femicides (homicide of females by an intimate partner), there was reported stalking throughout the year prior. Stalking incidents are frequently contextual and patterns of behavior need to be explained in order to understand the level of risk. Consider this... someone receives flowers at work from their stalker and calls the police. Their co-workers think they're being dramatic, after all, flowers are nice to receive. However, the victim's stalker has made threats claiming, "I'll send you flowers on the day you die." Behaviors like sending flowers are not criminal in nature, which is why context, documentation, and history often needs to be established in stalking cases. Documentation, such as keeping a log of incidents with the time, date, behavior, witnesses, and responding police agency, can be incredibly helpful for victims experiencing stalking. Documentation can help law enforcement identify the pattern of behavior to prove stalking is occurring. Victims can also reach out to their local domestic violence and r**e crisis program to develop a safety plan and identify other resources that may be helpful, such as an order of protection or a backup phone.
Website: The Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center | SPARC
