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City, county, and community providers standing together to end the silence on domestic violence

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — October is domestic violence awareness month. Therefore, the Tallahassee Domestic Violence Coordinating Council is bringing local law enforcement and service providers together to talk about the dangers of abuse and the resources available in the community.

In the Big Bend, there are 4,000 domestic violence survivors a year, that's according to Emily Mitchem, the Executive Director of the Refuge House.

The Refuge House offers an emergency safe shelter, 24-hour crisis hotline, counseling, and domestic violence advocates to people in need in the community.

Mitchem said it's these services that can save lives.

"When a victim of domestic violence is working with a domestic violence advocate or with a service provider in some way the likelihood of them dying of homicide is greatly reduced so it's really critical to be able to have that connection to be able to safety plan," said Mitchem.

DVCC is calling on local businesses and community members to stand together against domestic violence by putting purple ribbons on their windows this month.

Contact them at 850-222-3845 or DVCCTally@gmail.com to get the purple ribbon supplies.