The city of Denver will walk one mile to bring attention to domestic violence

DENVER — Tuesday marks the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and city leaders and community members are kicking off the month of action with a mile-long walk around Denver.

The theme is “One Mile Closer to Hope.”

“October is recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and is really designed to raise awareness of the importance of domestic violence as an issue in our community and to acknowledge and mourn the victims who have died as a result of domestic violence and to honor remembering victims of domestic violence,” said Margaret Abrams, executive director of the Rose Andom Center.

The walk begins downtown on 14th Avenue at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. Participants will walk through Civic Center Park and end in front of the City and County Building for a news conference where people will hear from a survivor of domestic violence and learn how to take action and access resources.

Denver police are seeing a 4% increase in domestic violence cases this year.

In mid-August, police said there had been more than 4,500 domestic violence-related crimes compared to the same point in 2023, when there were just over 4,300.

Denver7 was recently reported due to declining trends in violent crime. Crime trends from year to year can be seen in the chart below Here.

“We are doing (the walk) in partnership with the Rose Andom Center, the Denver Police Department, Violence Free Colorado and Safe House Denver, and anyone who wants to join the walk can do so,” Abrams said.

Safehouse, an agency that helps people in such situations, shares data on its website from last year showing it received more than 6,000 calls to its crisis line, helped more than 800 survivors and provided shelter for more than 7,700 nights.

“I think this walk is a really important opportunity to be able to meet other people in the community who are interested in being able to raise awareness and support people who are experiencing domestic violence and also really let people know that they are not alone and that no one should be alone when experiencing domestic violence,” Abrams said.

This will be the fourth year of the march.