NEW YORK—Purple is the color of solidarity with victims of domestic abuse. Nine Times Square billboards turned purple Wednesday night in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Billboards involved in the Shine the Light on Domestic Violence event included ABC Supersign, American Eagle, Bank of America, Clear Channel Spectacolor, Disney, TSQ Digital, Nasdaq, Thomson Reuters, and Walgreens.
A 2007 National Violence Against Women survey found that 22.1 percent of women and 7.4 percent of men in the United States experienced violence from an intimate partner. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2,349 people in the country died at the hands of an intimate partner in 2007, and 7.7 percent of women reported being raped by an intimate partner.
On Oct. 19, people across the nation will wear purple to show their support for anti-violence campaigns. For a full list of Domestic Violence Awareness Month events, including educational seminars and documentary screenings, visit the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence website.
