This October marks the 27th annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month, an annual tradition organized by the Domestic Violence Awareness Project. The University Women’s Center is spearheading the University's involvement in the campaign, launching a series of events this week to raise awareness.
The campaign launched Sunday with a performance from Find Your Voice, a performance series which aims to draw attention to key issues on Grounds through monthly performances. Other events this week include tabling on Tuesday and Thursday and a panel open to the public on Wednesday evening to engage students on the topic of domestic violence.
Bringing attention to domestic violence in a college environment is a relatively recent phenomenon, said Claire Kaplan, director of the Gender Violence and Social Change program at the Women’s Center.
“Colleges have been late to the game,” Kaplan said. “I was the first person at U.Va. to focus on these issues. When I first came to U.Va. all the work done on Grounds was on sexual assault.”
Kaplan said two tragedies have underscored the importance of combating domestic violence: the deaths of Monica Long and Yeardley Love. Long, a fourth-year College student, was murdered by her husband during the Christmas holidays in 2003. In 2010, Love, a women’s lacrosse player, was murdered by her boyfriend in a case which received national attention.
“After Monica Long was murdered, there was really a push for emphasis on [domestic violence] issues” said Kaplan. “When Yeardley was killed, we really couldn’t ignore it anymore”.
Kaplan said the mission for this week of awareness efforts is twofold: to help recognize, intervene and report potentially dangerous situations in relationships, while also demonstrating how a healthy couple should operate.
Third-year College student Sara Surface, external chair of the Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition, helped to organize the Find Your Voice performance. She said this year’s play focused on the Hoos Got Your Back campaign, which promotes bystander intervention.
“Most of the scenes related to bystander intervention and sexual assault, but the overall message was to look out for one another and intervene when you see something going awry,” Surface said. “The same message can be applied to domestic violence — speak up and say something if you are worried about a friend in an unhealthy relationship of any kind.”
Andrew Burrill, a third-year College student, said those behind the performance wanted to call attention to the problem of sexual assault and domestic violence more broadly on Grounds.
“The focus of yesterday’s performance was to show the issue on stage through movements, sounds and lights, rather than just telling about the issues,” Burrill said. “Everyone knows facts and statistics revolving around issues in today's society. Find Your Voice exists to show how these issues make you feel, and others around you.”
Kaplan said the focus of Find Your Voice was to offer survivors of sexual violence a forum to publicly express their stories.
“I found the performance to be very moving, in fact I was surprised at my own reactions, given that I hear survivors’ stories all the time and have for years,” Kaplan said in an email. “It was in the nature of this performance that it was a bit rough around the edges, and yet the play was very powerful.”
Read More
Board of Visitors Finance Committee hears presentation on budget process
By Cecilia Mould | 22 hours agoThe Committee will review and vote on the budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year when the full Board reconvenes for its June meeting.
Police forcefully clear encampment near University Chapel, detain protesters
By Thomas Baxter and Finn Trainer | 2 days agoThe University declared the encampment an unlawful assembly at 2:44 p.m.
Student Council passes appointment bill, approves new CIOs at final meeting of semester
By Arshiya Pant | 3 days agoMendoza Gonzalez also said she will be meeting with Kenyon R. Bonner, vice president and chief student affairs officer, to discuss further strategies for the Student Council Endowment Fund.
