Dear Friend,
Today is Giving Tuesday, one of the biggest giving days of the entire year. Millions of people around the world give generously to their favorite charities every year on this day & we’ve been thinking of this year’s campaign focus for months. In the end, it was a very simple answer: we wanted to increase our efforts to advocate for and serve the underserved, and to stand beside some of the most vulnerable individuals within abuse victim populations.
This year, we’re bringing attention to a statistic many Americans don’t know about: According to recurring CDC data, 1 in 7 men will be a victim of serious sexual or intimate partner violence in their lifetime. With today’s U.S. population levels, that’s roughly 24.5 million boys and men. Yet in every state in the U.S., men and boys are routinely unable to find shelter at or receive services from many domestic violence agencies. For these victims, some as young as 12 years old, they are often told their sex or gender makes them unfit and unable to be housed at the shelter facilities. And if they object, they’re ushered away as threatening. Or worse – with nowhere to go, even with children in tow, they’re forced to return to their abuser or live on the street.
We want to raise funds to represent the more than 24.5 million men and boys who will fall victim to sexual violence in their lifetime, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
All funds raised today will go towards educating the public and policymakers about the critical need for services and advocating for more equitable access and opportunity on a state-by-state level.
Your contribution will help us to create awareness and educate state governments to direct monies to intimate partner violence programs and increasing availability at shelters to help this vastly underserved population and others. Men are often faced with the same lack of housing or support as teens, the elderly, members of the LGBTQ+ community, members of the BIPOC population, and other marginalized groups. This is why SAFE exists - we’re working to truly Stop Abuse For Everyone.
Your dollars donated today will help the over 24.5 million victims who are often not welcomed in shelters across our nation or provided the services they need to be safe and to heal.
