Until the violence stops

We all know October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. So ladies, remember to feel your boobies and check for lumps.

But let us not forget that October is also Domestic Violence Awareness month. Step up and donate your time, money or gently used items to an agency in your area that’s committed to providing shelter, counseling and a new start to abused women. In Louisville, Ky., for example, The Center for Women and Families offers a 24-hour crisis line, emergency shelter and transitional housing, children’s services and much more.

If you want to get involved on a national level, there probably isn’t a better role model out there than Eve Ensler. Ensler is the creator of the groundbreaking play, The Vagina Monologues. The play was such a success that she went on to create the V-Day Foundation, which helps activists produce fundraising productions of the play around Valentine’s Day to help end violence against women. Click here if you’re interested in organizing a 2009 V-Day event. (And check out the documentary Until the Violence Stops, which chronicles Ensler’s movement.)

I’m happy to report that there are plenty of men stepping up to the plate too. Walk a Mile In Her Shoes is a program founded by Frank Baird that organizes men’s marches to stop sexual assault and violence against women. Men who participate in the marches actually slip on high heels and walk one mile down a street to help raise awareness. Yep, feminist men are hot. Fellas, click here to find out how you can organize a walk in your town.