During this Domestic Violence Awareness Month, advocacy organizations are stepping up the ways they support survivors after recent studies found alarming increases in the number of domestic and partner violence being reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among its range of services, one group, the Center for Hope and Safety in Bergen County, is helping survivors with art therapy.
Art of Survival, an exhibition on display in Demarest, is giving voice to survivors’ experiences and offering a conversation-starter in the community about domestic abuse.
One woman who recently came to the center with her daughter after years of abuse, said, “We were so cut off and isolated. So it was a cycle. It was just going around for many years, and you keep going until you end up how I was. I was so depressed. And I thought it was all my fault.”
Marta Levy, who runs the art programs at the center, said, “So they come to a group and they start meeting other survivors, and they’re able to talk to each other and tell stories, support each other.”
