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The annual seven-mile march is named for Gladys Ricart, who was killed on her wedding day 10 years ago by an ex-boyfriend.

Many marchers have been directly affected by domestic violence.
Some lost loved ones while others were victims themselves.

"We mourn [Ricart] more and more every year because every year I realize how much more important she would be in my life right now," said Mary-Ann Liriano, Ricart's niece. "She was like a second mom to us, so the march helps us."

Demonstrators say this march offers a message of empowerment and hope to remind people they can get out of abusive relationships and that they are not alone.

"Every time that I limp, every time that I feel the pain, I never can forget where I came from and who I am," said Diana Rivera, a domestic violence survivor. "And it does want to mark you. It does want to bring down your self-esteem as a woman, but you have to move forward and make the best of it."

Officials at the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence say there's been a recent spike in domestic violence.

In 2008, 70 people were killed in family-related homicides, a 31-percent jump from the year before.

Also, 11 percent of city high school students report that they have been hit by a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Last year, city police responded to almost 235,000 incidents of domestic violence.