More than 500 people registered for the Bronx District Attorney’s annual 5k Run/Walk/Jog event last Saturday, as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It was the highest number since the event was created 5 years ago.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark addressed the crowd which she called a “sea of purple” as attendees dressed in the color in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
“We are here for the victims and those survivors of domestic violence,” Clark said.
“It’s a problem that has plagued us our city, our country and in this Borough,” she said.
NYPD data shows that in 2021, there were more than 34,000 cases of domestic violence reported across the city. Over 9,500 were in the Bronx.
Clark thanked survivors who had turned to advocacy, turning their “pain into purpose.” “No matter how somebody else tries to make you feel, you can rise above that, because you are better than that.”
Clark recognized the life of Police Officer Arianna Reyes-Gomez who was stabbed to death in her home last June. Reyes-Gomez’s estranged husband has been charged with murder in connection with her death. Her family attended the event in her memory. Speeches were also made by two survivors of domestic violence.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson was in attendance and called the crowd into cheers and clapping as she proclaimed, “we will rise beyond domestic and gender-based violence.”
Survivors are “not victims of their circumstance, but they are victors of their circumstance,” she said.
Stalls were set up around the event representing support groups for domestic and gender-based violence. “It’s not only an event to support but it’s to educate,” said Adrianna Barona, a representative from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. “It allows victims to come out and feel supported,” she said.
The event “highlights the chronic problem we have in the Bronx with domestic violence,” Barona said. The Bronx has particularly high chronic domestic violence complaints according to government data, contributing to over 28% of citywide chronic domestic violence complaints.
The Bronx DA emphasized the importance of relying on the community “we have to,” she said. “They are the ones that meet people where they are,” she said. They “give them the hope that they need to bring them to us to give them the strength to report.”
Clark, Gibson, the family of Reyes-Gomez and Commissioner stood in solidarity on the start line as Clark cut the ceremonious ribbon and the crowd set off.
The Office of the Bronx Borough President relaunched the Domestic Violence Advisory Council earlier in the month as part of the effort to combat domestic and gender-based violence. This, along with the $1 million federal grant issued to the Bronx by the Department of Justice earlier this month will assist with resources for those affected by domestic violence over the course of the next three years.