Marie Claire And Liz Claiborne Designate October 14, 2004
"It's Time To Talk" Day

New York, NY (October, 2004) - Imagine a single day where women and men, teenage girls and boys, grandmothers and grandsons turn to each other and actually talk about a problem that is more common than breast cancer and more insidious than AIDS. A problem that by its nature, makes people uncomfortable: domestic violence.

Marie Claire and Liz Claiborne Inc. have designated October 14 "It's Time to Talk Day" in hopes of raising awareness of and getting people talking about, this pervasive social issue.

Working together, communities nationwide can assure that on this day, Americans everywhere will be talking in classrooms, offices, homes, and coffeehouses, about the fact that nearly one in three women will be abused in her lifetime. We will tell our daughters that a boy should never hit them, or isolate them from others. We will open a new conversation with an acquaintance we suspect might be suffering in silence. And we will hear how to get America talking from domestic violence advocates, volunteers, and survivors.

Police, women's shelters and government officials alone cannot prevent men from abusing the women they claim to love (or, in statistically far fewer cases, women from abusing the men they claim to love). But everyone can take this initiative and make it their own - helping to reach millions of people over the course of one day. This important issue is already on the minds of American women: Marie Claire's August 2004 Gallup poll revealed that 82 percent of women consider violence against women a top concern-above improved education, above child safety, above environmental damage.

You can make a difference on October 14th. Talk to someone in your life about domestic violence. If you're not sure how to get the conversation started please see Liz Claiborne's educational handbooks, which are designed to give you practical and easy advice on ways to begin to talk about the issue. The handbooks are available at www.loveisnotabuse.com.

Now imagine a day when we won't need to talk about domestic violence ever again. Please join us in making this dream a reality.

Events marking "It's Time to Talk" Day around the country will include:

• The Empire State Building will be lit orange and blue -- the colors of NY-based Safe Horizon, the largest victim assistance organization in the country -- the evening of October 13th
• A briefing will be held on Capitol Hill sponsored by Rep. Lucille Roybal Allard and the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues to discuss violence against women
• It's Time to Talk posters will be posted in all NYC police department buildings and mention will be made of the day during the morning roll call
• Don McPherson, Founder and Executive Director of the Sports Leadership Institute at Adelphi University in NY, and former professional athlete, will be appearing on Air America to talk about violence against women
• The American Express offices in Phoenix, Arizona will be holding a Domestic Violence training session for employees on October 20th and sharing the scripts featured in Marie Claire with their employees
• On October 13th, Boston's "Close to Home" Community Project will be promoting the "It's Time to Talk" initiative on Boston Network News with Digital Stories, a series of 2-4 minute multi media/video pieces created by local teens and community residents to encourage discussion about domestic violence