Dear Fearless! Community,

October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It was a time for solemn reflection, for steadfast resolve, and for the unwavering affirmation of a single, crucial truth: everyone has the right to live a life free from abuse and violence. 

Domestic violence is a scourge, a plague that cuts across every demographic, every socioeconomic boundary. It is a reality that far too many among us have faced, and continue to face, every single day.

Survivors, We see you. We hear you. Your stories – they matter. They are the very reason we created events throughout Orange and Sullivan counties. Because for too long, the voices of those who have endured the unimaginable have been silenced. It is time to center your strength, your resilience, your light.

Healing is not a race. It is a journey, and it is a journey that no one should have to walk alone. We must collectively pledge to hold space with those who are healing. We cannot accept empty platitudes, but the steady drumbeat of unwavering support. 

As we hold space for healing, as we lift up the voices and the power of survivors, let us never forget – the responsibility for abuse lies squarely with the abuser. It is a choice, a cruel and inexcusable choice, made by one person to exert control, to inflict pain. And it is a choice that is all too often enabled, all too often masked, by the systems that are meant to protect.

So let us shine a light into the shadows. Let us demand that our institutions, our laws, our very culture be reformed to uplift survivors, not re-traumatize them. Let us hold accountable those who would turn a blind eye, who would compromise a survivor's safety for the sake of expediency or image, because the only way to end domestic violence is to root out the rot of complacency, to replace it with the steel of accountability.

Let us commit to passing Kyra’s Law (A3346C/S3170C) - aimed at prioritizing child safety in New York’s child custody and visitation proceedings, and others like it.

Let us stand with the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Advocacy Sector and demand cost-of-living adjustments, as we have been excluded the lasts several years. We must value, support, and work to ensure stable funding with livable wages. In a field that is overwhelmingly represented by women, the LGTBQ community, victims, and survivors we need to ensure the system and those working within the system are accountable for supporting victims, survivors, and the Fearless! advocates that walk beside them every day. 

October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Let it be a month of reflection, yes. But let it be more than just a month, let it be a reckoning. Let it be the catalyst for a world where no one lives in fear of the person they once called home.

Because that is the world we deserve. That is the world survivors deserve. And that is the world we will build, together, with every step forward, with every voice raised, with every abuser held accountable.

No more silence. No more excuses. This is the time for action, for justice, for the unassailable truth that every person has the right to a life free from violence and abuse. And it starts now. It starts with each of us, with every choice we make, with every vow we take to hold space, to hold accountable, and to uplift the survivors who are the very heart of our movement.

Let this be our collective battle cry, a promise that together, we will build a world where no one lives in fear of the person they love. Because that is the only acceptable world. That is the only just world. And that is the world that awaits us if only we are Fearless! enough to build it.