They stood 21 strong, their backs to the harbor, shirts billowing in the sea breeze, cheered on by honking cars, applause and exclamations of gratitude. Their messages, plastered to their chests by a gusty wind off the Vineyard Haven harbor, were names of individuals and groups of women they wished to honor in the fight against domestic violence.

They were fathers, uncles, sons, grandfathers, Islanders and visitors, standing vigil Saturday afternoon on the Vineyard Haven seawall in support of local victims of domestic violence.

The Island’s main port town will soon officially be a domestic violence-free zone.

At their meeting Tuesday, Tisbury selectmen voted on a Martha’s Vineyard Community Services initiative

A West Tisbury woman last week killed her husband in what law enforcement officials have determined was an act of self-defense, with the incident shaking the Island community and calling into focus domestic abuse issues and resources on-Island.

The morning of March 23 Cynthia C. Bloomquist, 63, allegedly shot and killed her estranged husband, Kenneth R. Bloomquist, 64, after he broke into her home and shot her. The district attorney ruled the incident a homicide during an act of self-defense.