Why October? The story behind Domestic Abuse Awareness Month
Every October, you may notice a little more purple.
Social media feeds fill with information about domestic abuse. Organisations run campaigns, events and training. Landmarks and workplaces may be lit up or decorated, and conversations that can otherwise be difficult to start, become more visible.
But why October? And where did Domestic Abuse Awareness Month actually come from? It is perhaps more recent than many people realise, but its roots stretch back more than 40 years.
It started with a Day of Unity
The origins of Domestic Violence Awareness Month can be traced back to the United States in 1981.
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) organised the first Day of Unity, bringing together advocates and organisations working to end violence against women and children.
The idea was simple but significant: organisations working in different places and communities were tackling the same problem, so there was a need to bring their voices together. The Day of Unity was held in October and quickly grew beyond a single day. It became a week of activity involving organisations and advocates at local, state and national level.
Three ideas sat at the heart of those early events:
- Remember those who had died as a result of domestic violence.
- Celebrate those who had survived.
- Bring together the people working to end domestic violence.
Those three principles remain relevant today. Awareness is not simply about providing information. It is also about remembering, recognising, connecting and creating change.
From a day, to a week, to a month
By October 1987, the first month-long Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed. Two years later, in 1989, the United States Congress formally designated October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The presidential proclamation issued that year made clear that the purpose was not simply to acknowledge the existence of domestic violence. It called for greater public understanding, support for victims and those working to help them, and renewed efforts to address the problem.
In other words, awareness was intended to be a means to something more important: understanding, support and change.
Why does that history matter?
Because domestic abuse has not always been understood as the serious social, public health, safeguarding and criminal justice issue that we recognise it as today. For generations, abuse within relationships and families was treated as a private matter. It was something that happened behind closed doors; a relationship problem, a family argument or something to be tolerated, forgiven or simply kept out of public view.
The development of Domestic Violence Awareness Month was part of a much wider movement to challenge that thinking. It helped create space for people to talk about domestic abuse publicly, to recognise its impact, to share information about support and to connect the organisations and professionals working to respond to it.
That is vitally important because what we understand affects how we respond.
So, is October a UK thing?
Not originally. The formal history of Domestic Violence Awareness Month is American. However, October has subsequently become a significant month for domestic abuse awareness activity internationally, including here in the UK.
Across the UK, charities, local authorities, public services and specialist organisations now use October as an opportunity to raise awareness, provide information, encourage conversations and highlight support available to people experiencing domestic abuse.
There isn’t one single organisation responsible for everything that happens during October in the UK. Instead, it has become a shared opportunity for organisations and communities to shine a light on domestic abuse in different ways. And that is fitting, because domestic abuse is not something that belongs to one organisation, one profession or one part of society. It requires a response from all of us.
Awareness is only the beginning
There is, however, an important distinction between raising awareness and actually creating change.
We can share statistics.
We can wear purple.
We can put posters in our workplaces.
We can post information on social media.
All of these things can have value. But awareness should ultimately lead somewhere. It should help someone recognise that what they are experiencing is abuse.
It might help a friend, colleague or family member understand that a behaviour they have noticed is a warning sign. It might give a professional the confidence to ask a question they have previously been reluctant to ask. It might help a victim-survivor understand that they have options. And it might encourage organisations and professionals to think differently about how they respond.
That is why awareness months matter when they are used well. They create a focal point for conversations that need to continue throughout the year.
October isn’t the only month that matters
For those experiencing domestic abuse, there is no awareness calendar. Abuse does not stop when October ends. There is no particular month when coercive control takes a break, when financial abuse disappears, when threats become less frightening or when someone decides that this is a convenient time to seek help. For victim-survivors, the need for safety, support and effective responses exists every day of the year. So perhaps the real purpose of Domestic Abuse Awareness Month is not to make us think about domestic abuse for one month. It’s to make us think about it more deeply for the other eleven.
October 2026
This October, NCDV is using the month as an opportunity to raise awareness about all forms of domestic abuse, how to spot the signs, and encouraging the people affected to reach out for help.
October is a month for raising awareness. But the work continues all year.
