Story by: WROC Staff

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and to mark the occasion, the Willow Domestic Violence Center is flying 1,000 purple flags — each flag symbolizing five survivors.

Willow shared domestic violence data from 2019 this week and it shows reports were down 4% in Monroe County from the previous year. 60% of those came from the City of Rochester, up from the year before.

“These are the official reports,” President and CEO of Willow Meaghan de Chateauvieux said. “We know that we are only reaching a very small percentage of those whoa re experiencing domestic violence in our community. These numbers reflect who feels safe coming forward to law enforcement and those who feel safe calling our hotline, and trust them and that we as a system can support them.”

A reminder, the Willow Domestic Abuse Hotline is 585-222-SAFE and it’s open 24/7 for help ranging form counseling to emergency shelter.

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