Giving Back to Domestic Abuse Victims

As you may know, Bisoxual gives a portion of our proceeds to organizations like the Northwest Arkansas Women's Shelter that helps victims of domestic violence and abuse. Let's define what we're talking about and get that out of the way. 

Domestic Abuse

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, domestic violence is “a pattern of behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and control over another partner in an intimate relationship.” This can include “behaviors that physically harm, intimidate, manipulate or control a partner, or otherwise force them to behave in ways they don’t want to, including through physical violence, threats, emotional abuse, or financial control.” It is also called “intimate partner violence" if the abuser is a spouse or other partner.

Domestic abuse sees no gender or race. It affects all socioeconomic classes and ages. Almost 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men report experiencing severe physical violence from an intimate partner; and nearly 2 in 5 transgender people report having experienced intimate partner violence or other forms of coercive control and/or physical harm. Those stats break our hearts.

LGBTQ people experience physical violence at even higher rates: A recent report conducted by the Human Rights Campaign found that 44 percent of lesbian women and 61 percent of bisexual women experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner. 

Additionally, individuals with disabilities experience physical harm—including intimate partner violence—at higher rates than individuals who do not identify as disabled.

Effects of COVID

During Covid, these numbers got worse. The abused were stuck with their abusers with nowhere to go. Most shelters were forced to reduce their capacity because of social distancing guidelines. Also, during the pandemic, hotels and AirBNBs were closed and the places people could go to escape were no longer available. 

Because of this, domestic abuse shelters are needing more funding. Some are able to use alternate means of housing for victims, but these can be expensive to use. Not only do they have to pay for the housing, they have to send counselors and other specialists to the abused instead of taking care of them in-house.

No one should be abused in any way.

Period.

Hard stop.

We sell mismatched socks for a ton of reasons. We love them, they're fun, it's easy, it's the coolest thing ever....BUT one of the most important reasons is that sometimes an abused person has to leave RIGHT NOW. And they may only have time to grab what's around them. That might include socks that don't match. 

And that's perfectly acceptable.

We love you. Be strong. Be safe. 

The Bisoxual Family