Breaking the silence: July is domestic abuse month

Originally published online Portland Press Herald

July 2, 2025

Cape Elizabeth recognizes survivors.

For the first time, July is Cape Elizabeth Breaks the Silence of Domestic Abuse Month.

Rachel Davis, director of the Thomas Memorial Public Library, with the town of Cape Elizabeth proclamation declaring July as Cape Elizabeth Breaks the Silence of Domestic Abuse Month (Courtesy of Patrisha McLean).

All month, the town will be raising awareness and providing support for survivors of domestic violence in partnership with the Thomas Memorial Library and Finding Our Voices, a grassroots survivor-led organization serving the state of Maine.

Throughout the month, lawn signs featuring photos of 25 Maine survivors will be posted around town with QR codes linking to resources. Public desks at all town offices will have signs and displays with resources for survivors. At public meetings, town staff will wear yellow ribbons to show their support because Finding Our Voices chose yellow, the color of sunshine, for domestic violence awareness.

Rachel Davis, the director of the library and a survivor of childhood domestic abuse, requested the proclamation because she thinks it’s important to bring the whole town on board to address domestic violence as a local issue.

“In communities such as Cape Elizabeth–professional, affluent, well-educated–domestic violence thrives in silence,” Davis said before the Town Council. “The stigma associated with coming forward or trying to seek change or find safety for victims of domestic violence is higher in a community such as ours.”

On July 15, the Thomas Memorial Library will host a panel of seven survivors aged 21 to 85 to discuss their experiences, focusing on how witnessing domestic violence impacts children. A representative from the Cape Elizabeth Police Department will speak at the end of the event, providing information about how to seek safety, and there will be opportunities for attendees to interact with panelists one-on-one. That afternoon, leading up to the event, the library will host a sign-making workshop and an outdoor rally to raise awareness.

Patrisha McLean, the founder and CEO of Finding Our Voices, said that domestic violence is something that only people who’ve experienced it really understand.

“These people don’t let go of you,” she said. “It plagues you.”

That’s why it’s important to hear directly from survivors, McLean said, the experts on the issue. They share tips, red flags and understandings, things that can help someone in the middle of a difficult situation.

And survivor panelists can provide a glimmer of hope, answering the question: “what can you do now that you couldn’t do when you were trapped?”

“Women think that they’ll be all alone,” McLean said. “But there is a bright side on the other side.”

The library has been providing domestic violence resources in the form of a giveaway basket in the women’s restroom with books about domestic violence. In six months, 17 books have been taken and replaced, with one of the most commonly grabbed titles being “When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Children Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse” by Lundy Bancroft.

The Thomas Memorial Library has a giveaway basket in the women’s restroom full of resources about domestic violence (Dana Richie/ Staff Writer).

“The good news is we’re helping people,” Davis said. “The bad news is we need to help people.”

In 2024, Officer Tammy Schafran of the Cape Elizabeth Police Department compiled domestic violence call statistics and found that Cape Elizabeth averaged approximately two clear domestic violence calls per month, noting that it is very difficult to obtain a precise count of domestic violence calls due to factors like 911 hang ups and evolving situations.

“For every call, there are probably many others who aren’t seeking help,” Davis said.

“In a community like Cape Elizabeth where people know their neighbors and adults have identities that are bound up in their professional personas and where, to others, it might look like they have the perfect family, the prospect of acknowledging domestic abuse and seeking help seems almost impossible,” she added.

Cape Elizabeth joins many other towns in acknowledging domestic violence locally, and Davis hopes that this can become an annual recognition.