Domestic violence awareness month was first introduced back in 1981 by the National Coalition Against Domestic violence.

It was created not only to bring more awareness to others but to connect and unify the millions of affected victims that had been battered due to domestic violence.

Its hope is to break the chains of violence that currently have such a strong grip on our nation.

Every year, right around 10 million people become victims of domestic violence, which equates to just about 20 people every minute. Those are some pretty big and startling numbers.

It affects not only women, but men and children, of all different races, status, religions, and culture. No one is immune to it.

Domestic violence shows itself in a number of different forms, whether it’s punching, slapping, choking, or threatening, manipulating, yelling and many others. No matter the situation, domestic violence is never okay. See the month's events DVA Month