On Tuesday, Oct. 2, many students wore purple to showcase their support in creating domestic violence awareness.
Students were encouraged to attend “In her shoes,” an event sponsored by the Office of Compliance, Student Health Wellness and experience the real-life scenarios of domestic violence victims.
The simulation challenged students to think critically and allowed them to step into the shoes of a domestic violence victim and simply gain insight of the type of hardships a victim may experience. Many people will encounter domestic violence at least once throughout their life, yet many incidents will go unreported or undocumented. Therefore, it is crucial to get educated in domestic violence as our decisions influence our consequences.
“These types of events are important because it offers exposure to different perspective in pressured situations. Real-life scenarios and decision making are put into practice in events like this, allowing those with opposing views to come to compromise or further understand the impact of a decision,” said Pete Guaidola, an education major.
Others who attended agreed.
“Events like these are important because it provides information and resources for many people without access; it also allows for individuals to seek help,” said Zane Mrotek, a marketing major.
Organizers want victims to know they have help.
“Our goal is to get us to educate our community the best we can, given our alarming statistics. Approximately, 1-in-3 women and 1-in-4 men are victims of domestic violence. It’s important that students get educated in this topic, because often as a student you don’t realize many things that are happening to you. There is often many misconceptions about domestic violence such as ‘domestic violence is only physical’ or ‘only if you’re in a long-term relationship you’ll experience domestic violence.’ It’s not true, we are here to educate and showcase real life scenarios through different activities and hopefully emphasize the effect our decisions have,” said Cassandra Huye, a community educator.
Domestic violence occurs one too many times, having an education and knowing how to react if you have been a victim will definitely alter your perspective the next time you make a decision. Attend events, get informed and you will make impactful decisions, organizers said.
