Finding support, preventing abuse during Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a nationwide effort to shine a light on intimate partner abuse, connect survivors with critical resources, and drive prevention efforts. According to the National Institute of Health, 10 million individuals across the country are affected by domestic violence each year. Clare Anderson sat down with a domestic violence survivor to talk about her journey of healing, finding freedom, and advocating for support. That's right, I talked with Amber Rosenberg of Puyallup, who reached out to me on social media after posting her own story online. In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Amber went skydiving for a cause and hopes that by sharing her journey, others will find strength and by advocating, survivors will have more access to resources they need to recover. I found an outlet. An outlet for me is skydiving. Skydiving for me is healing. It's a release. And it's basically a way of me feeling like I can jump out of an airplane I can do anything in life because it takes a lot of commitment. It takes a lot of fear and letting go and also letting go of control. And that's one thing about domestic violence relationships is they're in control. What was one of the things that brought you to start advocating for this cause? I know you got out of your recent relationship, but you actually went on to social media. Tell me about that. So I went on to social media. I posted one of my skydiving posts And change.org messaged me, which I was completely shocked. I was like, is this real? They said that they liked the fact that I was using skydiving as a way to bring awareness to domestic violence. Asked me to start a petition. I said yes, and I was able to start a petition that calls our Washington state leaders to expand free recovery services for domestic violence survivors. I want to be a voice for other people, and I want to be a voice for myself. because I can either let the abuse define me and the person that I am, or I can bring awareness to others and help others in a way that I wish I had help. Well, I talked with Amber about the hardships, not only emotionally and physically in an abusive relationship, but the financial burden it can cause, especially to those trying to get out of a dangerous situation. This petition was only started a few weeks ago, and she does hope that by sharing her story here and other places, that it will get the attention of state leaders. Yeah, I mean, this is such a very, very hard topic all the time. We've done so many stories about domestic violence. One of the things that keep coming up is a lot of the survivors, they don't wanna sometimes ask the courts for help and do these protective orders cuz they worry that it's gonna create a backlash and then they're worried about the stigma. So it's just so important to just overall talk about the issue. Definitely, and did she talk at all about how to broach that conversation with somebody that you're fearful in your life is going through this right now? That's what I asked her, I said, if you have a friend who's maybe going through this, what do you do? She said, just be there for them. Let them know that they are there and you are there for them. And when they're ready, they will come to you and allow you to help because you can't push someone out of a situation they're not ready to leave. And she said, just being supportive is so important. So I think that's just a good thing to remember. Now also, if someone you know or yourself needs support, you can always reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline 24-7 at 1-800-799-SAFE, 7233 or text START to 88788.