Rosario Dawson driven by family history to fight against domestic violence

Washington: Rosario Dawson is determined to do something about the disturbing statistics of domestic violence against women, it has been revealed.

According to statistics provided by the Allstate Foundation, domestic violence affects 145 women every hour in the U.S. and on average three women die every day as a result. “I’ve been doing work around anti-violence campaigns for women and children for quite some time, from New Orleans to Haiti to the Congo,” a news channel has quoted Rosario Dawson, a spokesperson for The Purple Purse, as saying. “My mom worked for a domestic violence organization in San Francisco when I was 10, and now she is working for another one in New York and helps women who have been incarcerated because of domestic violence issues when they are in a situation where they attack their attackers and they are the ones that end up incarcerated. It is crazy. We want to prevent that from happening,” she said. The 33-year-old ‘Sin City’ star said getting on their feet financially is important for the women she works with. “In the communities where I grew up there was a lot of violence. It keeps people from being able to do better for themselves - work wise, dropping out of school, missing work days,” Dawson said. “The financial strain that it puts on people is really the culprit, these are not people who are not worthy and can’t do better for themselves. They are people who want to do better and just don’t have the tools and resources, so for me, it``s really personal. It’s a cycle that needs to be stopped,” she said. Dawson said her family’s personal history helps focus her passion on the issue. “I grew up around activists and advocacy work, and it’s my passion. My grandmother had five children she raised on her own, and my mother was a teenage mom,” she said. “These are people that on paper would just be statistics and wouldn’t have a particular value, but out of them came me. I honour the sacrifices they made. “Breaking the silence is helping people to instigate conversation. “It’s not the sexiest issue to talk about, a lot of times people want me to talk about lipstick or clothing or a movie, but I am happy to get this opportunity as well with my career. When I talk about this critical issue, I hope it will be easier for others to talk about it as well,” she added. Dawson hopes that lending her voice to the cause will help others get involved. ANI