Watch Past Vigils:

COMMEMORATING VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Each October, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM),
DVSN honors all Massachusetts residents whose lives were lost
to domestic violence over the past 12 months.

From October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025, there were at least seventeen deaths in MA.

Hear their stories as we light a candle in memory of each individual.

We hope DVSN’s Candlelight Vigil helps to build awareness as we honor the lives brutally lost to domestic violence in Massachusetts in the last 12 months.

Their stories show how the domestic terror they faced was sinister, pervasive, and unrelenting.  Each story is complex. Each life lost is tragic and preventable.  Murder and suicide are frequently the manner in which these individuals were killed.  Often it happens when the victim decides to leave, tries to leave, or has left – when the abusive partner is losing control and escalates to lethal means.

While the stories are dark and despairing, we also want to honor the ways in which these individuals showed strength and perseverance in trying to change their lives, in struggling to protect loved ones, in trying to do everything right for their children and others they loved.  Even though they lost those battles, with great determination, they took the risk…they tried…they made the effort.  Let’s not let their tragic outcomes obscure the fact that many of these individuals were truly heroic in their struggle to be free.

The stories are read by representatives from our advocates, our board, and our police and community partners – a wide array of colleagues who stand with us to witness and honor these lives lost.