Every year on the second Saturday of May, belly dancers around the world unite as part of the Shimmy Mob, an international movement that aims to raise awareness and show support for survivors of domestic violence.

Whidbey has its own Shimmy Mob teams, including one that is based in Langley but includes people from all parts of the island. Outfitted in hot pink T-shirts, the jangling troupe of women danced for six hours at seven different locations, moving from Clinton to Oak Harbor.

“We were tired,” Tessa Karno, the team’s organizer, said with a laugh.

The activity itself may seem like lighthearted fun, but the cause is serious. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, one in three women and one in four men in the U.S. have experienced physical violence, sexual assault and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

“In the idea of teaching awareness of the signs we hope to prevent domestic violence situations, and often people don’t realize that they are in an abusive relationship because there’s that stereotype of an abused woman with a black eye hiding behind sunglasses,” Karno said. “Sometimes, abuse doesn’t look like that. Sometimes it’s emotional abuse, sometimes it’s financial abuse.”

For six years, Karno, a Clinton resident, has led her Shimmy Mob team.

“I weirdly feel like it’s my mission because I had an experience years back, being in a domestic violence situation,” she said. “Had I known the signs to look for early on, I would have never gotten into that relationship.”

Many of the other dancers have had similar experiences, or known a family member or friend who has been impacted by domestic violence.

“It can happen to anybody,” Karno said.

Dancers handed out the Shimmy Mob brochure to passersby. It lists examples of emotional abuse, which can be a precursor to physical violence in a relationship.

Karno’s Shimmy Mob team has been raising funds for Citizens Against Domestic and Sexual Abuse. Team members were deeply disturbed to see CADA lose so much funding; the organization’s budget has been majorly impacted by federal cuts.

A silent auction, with all proceeds benefitting CADA, runs until this Friday at Salon All is On in Clinton.

It may be a drop in the bucket, Karno said, but everything helps.

Every year, Shimmy Mob teams sway to the same choreography and music as other teams. According to the Shimmy Mob website, 2,105 teams of 22,321 participants in 83 countries have been part of the dance movement over the past 14 years.

“It’s such a great group of women,” Karno said of her team. “We’re from all walks of life. We’re all ages. I think our oldest dancer is 78.”

Belly dancing also promotes body positivity.

“There is no ageism in belly dance,” Karno said. “Women, if they can move, they dance. And I think it’s lovely to see older dancers out there. I think it’s really inspiring for people. No matter what your age, you can dance.”

Dancers must register every year in advance before the event. For more information, visit shimmymob.com.

Photo by David Welton Teresa (Chandani) Ortega belly dances at Boy and Dog Park in downtown Langley.