Rosario Dawson has teamed up with Allstate Foundation to bring support to victims of domestic violence and empower women to take command of their own financial stability. Through the Purple Purse campaign, which encourages dialogue on the importance of female financial power to prevent them falling victim to domestic abuse, an estimated $320,000 is being donated to the YWCA.
"The reality is a lot of these people stay or will go back to an abusive relationship," Dawson explains. "When you need to eat, you need a roof over your head, you're thinking you're trading some type of discomfort or you're sacrificing something for yourself for the sake of your children. What you're really compromising, these kids cannot participate in class, they're distracted, they're becoming violent themselves. I'm so excited to be a part of this campaign, to be bringing attention to this because we're the majority sex on the planet. Enough is enough. A lot of times with domestic violence, people keep quiet. It's not a sexy issue, and people feel like it's a very personal thing. It devastates entire communities when we don't speak up and do something."
Dawson, who grew up surrounded by violence in New York City's Lower East Side, says the cause has grown to become an important one for her, and she takes the time and effort to bring help back home. As a board member of the Lower East Side Girls Club, she's able to speak to young women and stop the cycle of violence before it transfers to the next generation.
"It's an honor to be able to come back into my community and to be able to speak. I work in the Congo, and I work all around the world, but also to be doing it here nationally and say, This is happening right in our backyards. Violence is not something that happens super-far away. And if it doesn't get nipped in the bud, if these women and these families are not helped, it passes on to their children and they continue it," she says.
Find out more about the Purple Purse campaign at purplepurse.com.

BET.com always gives you the latest fashion and beauty trends, tips and news. We are committed to bringing you the best of Black lifestyle and celebrity culture.

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

(Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Martell Caractere)