AUBURN – The Abused Women’s Advocacy Project and the Sexual Assault Crisis Center will host a March Against Violence: Safeguarding Our Community at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 20.

The march begins at Great Falls Park in Auburn next to the Dunlap Building, crosses Longley Bridge and ends at Heritage Park in Lewiston. The Clothesline Project and the Maine Silent Witnesses will be on display, along with educational material and people who will be available to talk and listen.

The march is part of the YWCA Week Without Violence, which occurs during the nationwide October Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The collaborating agencies for the YWCA Week Without Violence are the YWCA of Central Maine, Advocates for Children, Auburn School Department, Abused Women’s Advocacy Project, Baha’i Community, Bates College, Emmanuel Reformed Presbyterian Church, Lewiston School Department, Lewiston Police Department, the Sexual Assault Crisis Center and concerned citizens.

In Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties, the AWAP served 3,200 women and children last year through various services. The Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Androscoggin County served 2,500 women, men and children. One in four women report being assaulted in their lifetime by a husband or boyfriend and one in four women report being raped by their husband.

If someone you live with, used to live with, or were ever intimate with is abusing you, you can get help. Call the Abused Women’s Advocacy Project 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-559-AWAP (2927). If you have been sexually assaulted or harassed, call the Sexual Assault Crisis Center Hotline at 795-2211.