Dot Evans remembers being in a grocery store in her native New Orleans when she saw a child take a box of cereal off the shelf and tell his mother that he wanted it.

The mother told the boy to put it back. The child didn't and did not come when called.

The mother, in anger and frustration, threw her purse at the boy, Evans recalled.

When people think of violence, they may think of wars, acts of terrorism or urban drug shootings —!\qthe kind of violence they see on television news.

The Week Without Violence campaign launched by the YWCA of Lancaster on Sunday evening aims to have people think about violence more broadly and closer to home, said Evans, the YWCA's assistant executive director.

"Violence is all around us and it presents itself in many, many different forms and in many, many different ways," she said.

That may be as simple as someone deliberately not showing respect to another person. It may be the mother throwing the purse. It also can be gun violence or war.

The YWCA's annual call to end violence — now spread internationally to the 105 countries where the YWCA has a presence — intends to bring violence in all its forms to the forefront.

"Violence should not be tolerated anywhere," said state Rep. Mike Sturla, who spoke at a ceremony launching the initiative at the YWCA, at North Lime and East Orange streets.

"There is not one example anyone can cite in which violence has been the positive answer to anything," Sturla continued.

One of the ways the YWCA works to end violence throughout the year is by providing parenting classes. Parents are taught other ways to respond to children, Evans said.

"I think people live what they learn," she said.

Children raised to react violently will grow up to be violent, she said.

The YWCA also works to help with the consequences. Many of the women living in the YWCA's shelter have fled domestic violence, said John Jascoll, YWCA spokesman.

It is also the county's sexual assault center, where people come for counseling.

During the week, there will be lights on trees outside the building.

Those lights symbolize all those who have triumphed over violence. Bows on the trees were made by women in the shelter, said Mary Ross, the YWCA's Empowerment Center director.

Inside, cards on the wall tell stories of how people have dealt with violence or their hopes for an end to violence, Evans said.

Everyone is invited to come into the YWCA and write their thoughts on a card. The initiative ends Saturday.

"It's really a community problem," Evans said. "It takes a community solution."

bharris@lnpnews.com