Monday, November 2, 2009
This week is Domestic Violence Awareness Week at the University of Kansas. The student group Delta Force will be spearheading a campaign to educate students and community members about domestic violence, and several other student organizations and community groups are co-sponsoring the event.
A week of education about domestic violence is important because it’s extremely pertinent to the daily lives of many people at the University and in Lawrence.
“A lot of people don’t understand how prevalent it is,” Liz Stuewe, Lawrence senior and member of Delta Force, said.
A survey done in 2000 by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention found that one in four women is a victim of domestic violence. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Web site said most cases of domestic violence were not reported to the police.
Until I started learning about the advocacy groups on campus and what they planned to do during Domestic Violence Awareness Week, I did not know much about domestic violence. I don’t think many students think about it until they or someone they know experiences it firsthand.
It seems this problem is only made worse by common misconceptions about domestic violence.
“The overarching stereotype is so often between a husband and a wife,” Stuewe said.
Stuewe explained that domestic violence happened in non-marital relationships, LGBT relationships, between family members and even between roommates.
Another seemingly widespread fallacy is that domestic violence constitutes mainly physical abuse.
“I believe that domestic violence is any abuse, albeit verbal or physical, that takes place in the confines of a situation where one person feels like the other one has more power in a relationship,” Tanner Willbanks, Hayes senior, said.
Willbanks is the domestic violence outreach coordinator for the Commission on the Status of Women, one of the groups spreading awareness during Domestic Violence Week.
Domestic abuse often occurs in relationships where one partner tends to be more dominant than the other, Willbanks said.
“Another big misconception when it comes to domestic violence in particular is that, well, if it’s that bad, she can just leave or he can just leave,” Willbanks said. “That’s not really the case. These people have been pretty much terrorized to the point that they don’t see a way out, and part of the abuse is usually their partner convincing them that there is no way out.”
It is my hope that students will take time to educate themselves about domestic violence so if they find themselves in violent situations, they can recognize it and remove themselves immediately.
Other groups involved in Domestic Violence Awareness Week include KU Young Democrats, Queers and Allies, Amnesty International, KU College Republicans, Alpha Chi Omega, The Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center, Women’s Transitional Care Services and the GaDuGi Safe Center.
For information on the week’s schedule, students should stop by the informational tables that will be on the lawn in front of Stauffer-Flint Hall this week.
Cosby is an Overland Park sophomore in journalism and political science.
Student groups raise awareness
Ten campus organizations promote domestic violence prevention.
Cosby: Domestic violence most prevalent in college
Women who are 16-24 years old are more likely to be domestically ...
Legislators consider new domestic violence bill
Lawmakers look to incorporate a wider range of offenses as domestic violence ...
Activists encourage continued awareness of domestic violence
Domestic Violence Awareness Week at the University is over, but students are ...
State changing how it handles domestic violence
Parents of murdered student Jana Mackey helping to develop batterer intervention program.
Domestic violence affects people of all sexual ...
LGBTQ individuals just as likely to encounter domestic violence in relationships as ...
Take Back the Night to promote awareness ...
Take Back the Night is a national event to educate the public ...
Editorial: Sexual Assault Awareness month offers reminder ...
Sexual violence isn't limited in scope or location, and it is still ...
Delta Force focuses on sexual health, sustainability
The group will be putting all their effort into informing students about ...
Cosby: Don't ignore domestic violence issues
It's important to realize that sexual abuse is more common than we ...
‘Take Back the Night’ promotes awareness
Victims of domestic violence and sexual assault share stories and shelters provide ...
Shelter offers safe place for abuse victims
A small group of students want to help the residents of Women's ...
Murder focuses attention on dometic violent problem, ...
The Douglas County district attorney’s office filed 237 domestic battery charges in ...
Activist group promotes Sexy Week
Delta Force will distribute condoms and information on safe sex.
Cosby: Domestic violence laws inconsistent
Punishments may not necessarily fit the crime.
'Take Back the Night' educates students, women ...
Lawrence community members gathered last night for “Take Back the Night”, an ...
Students should increase awareness of domestic abuse
Students participate in abusive relationships
According to recent surveys, roughly 30 percent of college students have been ...
Cosby: Culture reduces severity of sexual assault
Startling statistics require us to reevaluate how we think about sexual assault ...
Malicious Intimacy
Four students' experiences with domestic violence.
Pride Week plays up common topics
Students of Queers and Allies uses kissing, dancing, performing plays to draw ...
Students take measures to prevent domestic violence
A event based off Twilight aims at curtailing domestic violence
Profile: Student presidential candidates
Not sure how to vote? Use these presidential and vice-presidential candidate profiles ...
Revealing sexual assault
Four student organizations at the University of Kansas helped increase awareness about ...
Sexy Week encourages more than sex education
All this week Delta Force will help students understand their bodies and ...
Group sponsors sexuality series
Events include discussions on transexuality, domestic violence and intimacy.
Take Back the Night sheds light
Downtown rally Thursday night raised awareness on sexual abuse and domestic violence.
February Sisters’ 40th anniversary of their famous ...
A group of 30 women protested for women’s rights and started the ...
Editorial: Campaign trailblazers
Instead of aspiring for Senate positions, Delta Force utilizes a nontraditional campaign ...
Delta Force adds platforms
Delta Force announces two more platforms, less than one month until Student ...
KU organizations discuss gender role
Several KU organizations met with CWS to discuss gender issues and raise ...
Delta Force switches nominees
John Cross, Kansas City, Mo., junior and former vice presidential nominee for ...
Malicious Intimacy: Chloe and Luke
Violent Suppression: artist re-emerges after half a decade of abuse
Group to take petition on pub crawl
Commission on the Status for Women promotes sexual awareness in Kansas with ...
Candidates answer questions at debate
The Elections Commission sponsored an hour-and-a-half-long debate Monday evening. The candidates had ...
Students learn self-defense tactics
TAKE program teaches protective skills for worst-case scenario attacks.
'Vagina Monologues' will aid domestic abuse victims
Although cast members are a bit nervous for their parents' reactions to ...
Saha: Go 'red' for women to prevent ...
Promote awareness of heart issues to help save lives.
Stuewe: Don’t blame entire gender
Men in the group One in Four travel to college campuses to ...
Events, groups raise assault awareness
Groups, such as One in Four, and events like “Can I Kiss ...
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
KUnited presidential candidate Libby Johnson and vice presidential ...
1 comment
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID