The Meaning of Demeter

Many people ask us who 'Demeter' is, so we have decided to include a brief explanation for the curious!

Demeter was the Greek Goddess of the Harvest. She was a much loved goddess and also taught humankind how to grow and use the grain. As Demeter is based in and around Cornwall, we thought this was appropriate, Cornwall has a truly beautiful landscape however this is often exactly the type of rural area that isolates many victims.

Demeter is heralded as one of the most beautiful and nurturing of the goddesses. She was also the only goddess to have experienced any form of 'human suffering' when she had her daughter Persephone stolen by Hades king of the underworld.

So distressed by her abduction Persephone starved herself for many days, but soon ate 6 Pomegranate seeds in an attempt to save her own life. Hades had managed to trick Persephone into eating the cursed seeds and for every one she ate he was able to keep her captive for one month.

Persephone was soon released back to her mother Demeter, but as the curse ruled her days she was sent back to Hades for 6 months out of every year.

Some statistics

	A study of 200 women's experiences of domestic violence, commissioned by Women's Aid, "Routes to Safety", found that 60% of the women had left because they feared that they or their children would be killed by the perpetrator. (SOURCE; Humphreys & Thiara, 2002)
	1 in 4 women are victims of Domestic Abuse at some stage in her life
	A recent government statistic released stated that 1 in 5 teenage girls were experiencing abuse from their teenage boyfriends.
	2 women a week are murdered by their current or former partners. (Source; 'living without fear' an integrated approach to tackling violence against women (issued by the women's unit/ home office)
	At least 30% of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender relationships live with domestic violence' (Source; BROKEN RAINBOW, 2002)
	1 in 5 young men and 1 in 10 young women think that abuse or violence against women is acceptable. (Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust, 1998).
	In "Routes to Safety" 76% of separated women suffered post-separation violence. Of these women: 76% were subjected to continued verbal and emotional abuse 41% were subjected to serious threats towards themselves or their children 23% were subjected to physical violence 6% were subjected to sexual violence -36% stated that this violence was ongoing In addition to this, more than half of those with post-separation child contact arrangements with an abusive ex-partner continued to have serious, ongoing problems with this contact (Source; Humphreys & Thiara, 2002).
	An estimated 19,910 women and 28,520 children stayed in refuges in England in the year ending 31 March 1998. (Source; Women's Aid, 1999).