Domestic Violence Awareness Month Candlelight Vigil & Ribbons

The Violence Preven­tion Center (VPC) will be hanging purple ribbons on the lamp posts downtown Grand Marais and will host a candlelight vigil in honor of Domestic Vio­lence Awareness Month.

The VPC will hold their annual candlelight vigil in honor of Domestic Vi­olence Awareness Month on Tuesday, October 29th at 5:30pm at Studio 21 in Grand Marais.

Every October during Domestic Violence Aware­ness Month, the VPC hosts this event to honor victims of intimate partner homi­cide and to show commu­nity support for survivors of domestic abuse. This year, the VPC will hold their Domestic Violence Awareness Month vigil at the Art Colony’s Studio 21 location on Tuesday, October 29th at 5:30pm. Refreshments including tea and Crosby Bakery goods will be served. The vigil will include poetry readings, words from VPC staff, and the names and stories of the 40 Minneso­tans killed in 2023 due to Inti­mate Partner Homicide.

Since 1989, Minnesota’s state coalition against domestic violence, Violence Free Min­nesota, has tracked intimate partner homicides in Minne­sota and compiled an annual homicide report with the in­formation as part of their We Remember project. In 2023, Violence Free Minnesota counted 40 confirmed intimate partner homicides in Minneso­ta, which is the highest number they have ever recorded. This number consists of primary victims of domestic violence as well as bystanders and in­terveners who were killed. Ev­ery year, Violence Prevention Center staff, board members, and volunteers read the names and stories of every victim of intimate partner homicide in Minnesota from the previous year at the Domestic Violence Awareness Month Vigil. This is an important act of putting names to the statistics and hon­oring the memory of Minneso­tans whose lives were cut short because of domestic violence and provides a space for com­munity grieving and healing.

The Violence Prevention Center invites the community to join the Domestic Violence Awareness Month candlelight vigil at 5:30pm October 29th at Studio 21. Come raise aware­ness for domestic violence, honor victims of intimate part­ner homicide, show support for survivors, and push back against the societal conditions that allow domestic abuse to exist in our communities.

Violence Prevention Center
24hr Support & Office:
218-387-1237
21 West Second Street
Grand Marais, MN 55604
www.violencepreventioncenter.org