By Kristen Strezo
Co-chair of the Somerville Commission for Women

The Somerville Commission for Women and RESPOND invite you to attend our annual Candlelight Vigil to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Our vigil this year will be held on Wednesday, October 3, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Statue Park in Davis Square.

Our focus is threefold. First, we wish to recognize those whose lives were lost to Domestic Violence in Massachusetts over the past 12 months. We do this by reading their names and observing a moment of silence.

This year’s Candlelight Vigil to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month will take place on Wednesday, October 3, at Statue Park in Davis Square, Somerville.
— Photo by Bobbie Toner

We also bring together local service providers in the community. We hope to be a bridge to any victim suffering in silence with a message that they are not alone and that support is eager to help.

Last, we wish to bring hope and healing. Every year we display the Clothesline Project; t-shirts designed by survivors and family members and friends of violence victims. The shirts line our vigil space and hold messages for the viewer: some anguished, some empowering, all thought provoking.

And we want that. We aim to be a mirror to our society, a confirmation that no community goes untouched from domestic violence. Stern statistics affirm that you’ve known at least one person, perhaps a few, who have endured intimate partner violence. Jane Doe, Inc., states that one in four women and one in nine men were victims of domestic violence at some point in their lives.

It exists, too, in Somerville. While the number of those killed in Massachusetts due to domestic violence has decreased in the past few years, intimate partner violence is still happening.

I hope the numbers of deaths continue to decrease. I hope one day we never have to hold a vigil. Maybe one day. Until then, please join us at our vigil and help us strive to put an end to it.

Kristen Strezo is the Co-Chair of the City of Somerville’s Commission for Women; however, the views and opinions expressed in this article are entirely her own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the City of Somerville.