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Domestic Violence Awareness Month: A recap of October’s events

October is not only about German beer, painting the world pink or going big on “Halloweekend.” It’s also Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). Throughout the month, Darcie Folsom, the coordinator of the Think S.A.F.E. Project, along with three interns and the peer education group SafetyNet organized four separate events to promote awareness of sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month was funded by the Think S.A.F.E. (Sexual Assault Free Environment) program, which was created by a grant from the Department of Justice last year.  The grant was part of a larger initiative by the Connecticut Department of Justice to award money to communities creating crime reduction and prevention programs. Conn received a three-year long, $300,000 grant to start up the Think S.A.F.E. Project.

Relationship violence is not only rape, as many people believe. It includes emotional abuse, economic control, physical violence, stalking, harassment and sexual abuse. An unhealthy relationship is not just one that includes sexual exploitation; it can also include verbal put-downs, manipulation and power trips.

The first DVAM event on campus, held on October 21, was the Clothesline Project pictured in last week’s issue of The College Voice. It was organized by a Think S.A.F.E. intern, Emily Lake ’11. Folsom said the project was influential because it sparked conversation between students and, “its not something someone had to attend, you just had to see it.”

Lake echoed this idea and explained that they chose the front of the library for the location specifically because “it is a place that students, faculty, and staff can’t really avoid.” Folsom was especially pleased because many passerby asked to take shirts home with them to create new ones to add to Conn’s collection.

Joy Chiang ’14, one student who took the time to browse through the shirts in the wet weather, recalled, “I remember thinking, “oh, those are really cool, can I buy one?’”

“I really liked all the designs and the display,” echoed Sarah Schnitman ’14. Other students recall walking past the display, but many could not recollect whether or not they were strongly affected by what they saw.

The second event, a talk by sociologist Allan Johnson, author of Unraveling the Knot of Domestic Violence, was very well attended and many people stayed for the resource fair that followed. The night ended well when Johnson announced that he would be returning 25% of the proceeds from all of the books he sold on campus back to the Women’s Center of South Eastern Connecticut, the event’s co-sponsor.

Susan Cunningham ’14 said the talk was especially interesting and important to her because domestic violence is not a typical “dinner table conversation.”

Purple Tie Tuesday was the most recent event as part of DVAM, and took place on Tuesday, October 26. It was originally a statewide initiative put forth by the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) that the Women’s Center of Southeast Connecticut helped bring to campus.

Folsom, along with other members of the Think S.A.F.E. Project, sold ties and handed out purple ribbons. “Especially for students who don’t usually wear ties to class, they made for good conversation,” Folsom pointed out.

Folsom was excited that not only men were wearing the ties. “I saw a lot of women wearing purple, which I was really stoked about!” she said.

These Hands Don’t Hurt, the last component of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, was an ongoing event that gave people an easy way to get involved. Folsom and her crew stormed areas of campus to ask members of the community to put their handprints on felt and sign a pledge that stated that the signee “will not use these hands to hurt others.”

Quilts comprised of over 138 different handprints are now hanging in Cro, Lambdin, Morrison, Branford and Hamilton.

“My wish for this campus is that everyone can feel safe, and right now, that’s not true,” Lake said. “We want to really make sure that this is a topic that we’re not afraid to talk about.” •

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