St. John Invited to March Against Domestic Violence on Thursday

The Family Resource Center will be holding a march and candle light vigil on St. John on Thursday to increase awareness about domestic violence.

The entire community is welcome to attend the two-hour event that begins at 5 p.m. at Frank Powell Park in Cruz Bay. The evening will include guest speakers and performances by the Dynamic Dancers and the Love City Pan Dragons. Children and their parents are invited to attend a free art class at the St. John School of the Arts starting at 4:15 p.m. to create artwork that will be used during the event. In spite of a decades-long national campaign to decrease the number of incidents involving domestic violence, the facts remain alarming. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline:

— Over 1 in 3 women (35.6 percent) and 1 in 4 men (28.5 percent) in the U.S. have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.”

— 30 to 60 percent of intimate partner violence perpetrators also abuse children in the household.

— 1 in 10 high school students has experienced physical violence from a dating partner in the past year.”