ALEXIS TEASDELL | STAFF WRITER
On October 12, 2011, students and faculty gathered in Talley Student Center at noon to discuss domestic violence. Students from The Movement “a trained group of male and female NCSU student activists and peer education leaders available to facilitate workshops on the prevention of sexual and relationship violence” came and spoke about how domestic violence has affected them and what resources are available to students and faculty. The movement stresses that all forms of interpersonal violence are unacceptable and by programs such as the “These Hands Don’t Hurt Pledge” and the new poster series to display signs of domestic abuse and resources, The Movement is doing an outstanding job of making that goal a success. Domestic abuse is a serious topic and affects us all. In the words of Jenny Lomelino, a graduate student in Secondary English, “ Everyone is affected by this [Domestic Violence]. Everyone knows someone who is abused, whether you know it or not.”
One of the many programs hosted by The Movement is the “These Hands Don’t Hurt Campaign.” The campaign is set up by the free expression tunnel and people who pass by are asked to sign a pledge of non-violence and then paint a hand symbol on a canvas. The tunnel also utilized by peer educators who paint the tunnel with domestic violence statistics and campus resources. The Movement also holds workshops over the month related to campus dating violence and healthy relationships. These workshops are interactive as well as informative and are presented to campus leaders such as Orientation Counselors as well as various programs across campus.
Another effective approach that The Movement is under-taking is the new poster series. The poster series will include posters with information about healthy relationships and signs of abuse. Some have said that these posters that exhibit signs of abuse can be little reminders to what is and isn’t acceptable in a relationship.
This year there will be three programs addressing Domestic Violence in the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender, Latina and the African American communities. Just this past week, The Movement partnered with Multicultural Student Affairs, Athletics, Inter-fraternal council, and Lamda Theta Alpha Latina sorority to bring speaker Victor Rivas Rivers, who is a childhood survivor and witness of domestic violence to speak to campus. The Movement will also be launching a new awareness event called the Silent Witness Project honoring victims and survivors of Domestic Violence.
From the many R.S.V.P hotline posters across campus, to the many events targeted to benefit diverse demographics, The Movement is definitely working hard to give adequate support to those survivors of domestic violence as well as those who know those survivors. They are also doing a great job of informing students on how to stay safe on this campus.
