Men, women, kids in strollers and dogs on leashes: More than 30 people and their pets took part in Saturday’s Domestic Violence Awareness Walk from Edgartown’s Park and Ride to the harborfront and back.
This is the ninth year that Connect to End Violence, a division of Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, has sponsored a walk that brings Islanders together on behalf of domestic violence survivors. While light-hearted in tone, as walkers chatted in English and Portuguese along the route, the event had a serious goal.
“It’s a demonstration to show survivors that the community supports them,” said Connect director Jennifer Neary, who spent nearly an hour Saturday morning affixing consciousness-raising signs to every power pole on Main street from Pease’s Point Way to Dock street in advance of the walk.
“You have the right to not be touched,” read the first sign encountered by the walking group, which stepped off from the Park and Ride at 11 a.m., led by Connect employee Sara Leandro. Holding a banner that read “Walk Against Domestic Violence,” Ms. Leandro was accompanied by her fiance Zach Townes, an Edgartown police officer and one of two off-duty policemen taking part in the walk.
“It’s important that anyone support this,” Mr. Townes said, stressing the pronoun and adding, “The police department has a close relationship with Connect.” Also walking with the group were Dukes County office-seekers Paulo DeOliveira, who is running for Register of Deeds, and sheriff hopeful Bob Ogden.
Many walkers carried boldly-lettered signs distributed by Connect that read “No DV on MV,” “Supporting Survivors” and “Walk to END Domestic Violence.” Other signs cited statistics stating that one in seven men is harmed by an intimate partner, while the number for women is one in four.
As the group moved along the multi-use path from the Park and Ride to Main Street, many passing motorists honked, shouted approvingly and gave the thumbs-up sign. Approaching the jail, some walkers cheered as an Edgartown Police Department patrol car let off a fleeting siren squeal.
A different kind of cheer came from an overtaking bicyclist who veered off the path to avoid the group heading downtown. “Legalize marijuana!” he called as he passed. “Okay, who’s carrying the wrong sign?” quipped Heather Arpin, a Connect employee who was perambulating her two-month-old son.
A suggested donation per walker of $5 in advance and $10 on Saturday will go directly to Connect programs serving domestic violence survivors on Martha’s Vineyard.“ “Every day we interact with different survivors,” Ms. Neary said. “It takes an amazing amount of strength and courage for them to come to us.”
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