BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE
GOVERNOR
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH and DAY OF UNITY
2011
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, domestic violence is a pattern of control in an intimate relationship where one person uses coercion and
violence to gain power and control over his or her partner; and
WHEREAS, domestic violence includes not only physical abuse, but also mental abuse, emotional abuse, financial
abuse, isolation, and sexual violence; and
WHEREAS, people of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds are vulnerable to violence by an intimate
partner; and
WHEREAS, 1 in 4 women will experience physical violence from their partners in their lifetime; and
WHEREAS, local domestic violence programs in North Carolina responded to 120,666 crisis line calls and served
66,320 victims in FY 2010, according to the Council for Women/Domestic Violence Commission; and
WHEREAS, 106 women, men, and children were murdered in 201 1 in domestic violence-related homicides,
according to the North Carolina Department of Justice; and
WHEREAS, North Carolina ranked 23rd in the nation for the number of per capita homicides committed by men
against women in 2009, according to the Violence Policy Center; and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that anywhere between 3.3 million and 10 million children witness domestic violence
annually; and
WHEREAS, approximately one in five female high school students reports being physically and/or sexually abused
by a dating partner; and
WHEREAS, physical abuse during childhood increases the risk more than two-fold of future victimization among
women and the risk of future perpetration of abuse by men; and
WHEREAS, 1 in 3 teens experience sexual or physical abuse or threats from a boyfriend or girlfriend; and
WHEREAS, by working together we can break the cycle of violence and build communities that are safe for
everyone;
twenty-seveni
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim
October 2012, as '‘DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH" and October I, 2012, as "DAY OF UNITY" in
North Carolina. I further urge our citizens to increase their awareness and education of this destructive force which deeply
affects a large number of families in our state each year, and to become part of the efforts to stop violence in families.
IN WITNES
the Capitol in Raleigh
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.
hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at
ty of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twelve, and of the
BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE
